PURCHASE, N.Y., March 1, 2006 — Lenovo, the computing equipment sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, today announced that it is donating ThinkPad notebooks to “Right To Play,” an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play as tools for the development of children and youth in the most disadvantaged areas of the world.
In support of the recent donation made by Lenovo Champion and Team USA speedskating gold medalist Joey Cheek, Lenovo is providing the organization with 20 ThinkPad notebooks that supported athletes at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Lenovo is the preferred provider of personal computing equipment for Right To Play, and the ThinkPad notebooks will be used for operations in Right To Play local and regional offices, including its newest locations in Dubai, Uganda and Bangkok. “Lenovo has been a great contributor to athlete causes during the Olympic Winter Games in Torino,” said Cheek. “With this donation, Right To Play will have reliable notebook PC technology to support volunteer activities all over the world.”
Right To Play operates programs in 23 countries to foster healthy physical, social and emotional development of children and young people, and to build safer communities. The organization sent 77 international volunteers into the field in 2005, and together with local coaches, reached approximately 500,000 children and youth on a weekly basis to teach them about teamwork, respect, self-esteem and personal health. Lenovo’s contribution will help build a sustainable infrastructure for programs by supporting reliable access to information, securing communications between local, regional and headquarter locations, and providing support to share data, photos, and other information.
“Lenovo’s support symbolizes the spirit of the Olympic Games and the power of sport,” said Johann Olav Koss, four-time Olympic gold medalist, President and CEO, Right To Play. “Using ThinkPad notebooks, Right To Play International Volunteers will conduct more productive operations and be able to reach even more children. These tools will allow us to better leverage our knowledge throughout the organization to create new opportunities in other regions.”
As a Worldwide Sponsor of the Olympic Games, Lenovo subscribes to the Olympic ideals of international understanding, fair competition and excellence.
About Lenovo Lenovo creates the most innovative products in the personal computing industry. Lenovo engineers, programmers and scientists from five laboratories in China, Japan and the United States focus on research and development that solves customer problems and improves productivity. Lenovo was the Technology Equipment sponsor of the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, and will support the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, providing notebook and desktop PCs, servers, storage and other computing equipment. For more information about Lenovo, visit www.lenovo.com .
About Right To Play Right To Play is an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play as a tool for development of children and youth in the most disadvantaged areas of the world. Its programs foster healthy physical, social and emotional development of children and build safer and stronger communities. Right To Play is a leader in the Sport for Development movement. With International Headquarters in Toronto, Canada, today Right To Play has over 40 projects in 23 countries. In just a few years Right To Play has reached half a million children and trained more than 6,000 Local Coaches. Right To Play believes that, when children play, the world wins. For more information please visit www.righttoplay.com . Contacts: Kelli Pietrantonio, Text 100 (for Lenovo) (212) 331-8420 kellip@text100.com
Right To Play, Toronto, Canada Tommi Laulajainen (416) 498-1922 ext. 236 tlaulajainen@righttoplay.com
Right To Play, New York Mary Dixon (646) 248-2442 mdixon@righttoplay.com