Lockheed Martin today announced that its employees have raised more than $600,000 for the purchase of over 24,000 care packages for overseas troops as part of the Operation USO Care Package campaign. Lockheed Martin partnered with the United Service Organizations (USO) in February as a USO World Partner and corporate partner of Operation USO Care Package to show its support for the hundreds of thousands of military men and women deployed around the world.

Approved and endorsed by the Department of Defense, the USO Care Package is a way to send a message of encouragement and a touch of home to a service member. For each $25 donation, Lockheed Martin employees sponsor a package with items often requested by soldiers, including prepaid phone cards, disposable cameras, travel-size toiletries, playing cards and nonperishable snacks. Employees also can create a personal message that is included in each package they sponsor.

At the launch of the campaign Lockheed Martin contributed an initial $50,000 to purchase 2,000 care packages and earmarked $50,000 to match one-for-one the first 2,000 packages purchased by employees through its "Lockheed Martin Employees Care" corporate giving program. "Employees quickly met that match within the first week of the campaign and have steadily continued to donate throughout the year," said Bob Stevens, Lockheed Martin's President and Chief Executive Officer.

In addition, Lockheed Martin employees have donated their time by convening to assemble the packages at "Care Package Stuffing Parties" and by handing out packages to departing troops at airports.

"Lockheed Martin has been an incredibly generous and dedicated supporter of the USO and its Care Package program and we are extremely honored to partner with them in this effort," said Edward Powell, President and CEO of USO World Headquarters. Elaine Rogers, President of USO-Metro and Worldwide Administrator for Operation USO Care Package adds, "The success of the care package program has been made possible due to the strong commitment and support of corporations like Lockheed Martin and their employees."

About USO

The USO is chartered by Congress as a nonprofit charitable corporation and is not part of the United States government. The mission of the USO is to provide morale, welfare and recreation-type services to uniformed military personnel. The USO currently operates 124 centers around the world, including five mobile canteens, with 70 located in the continental United States, three in the Caribbean and 46 overseas. For more information about the USO or Operation USO Care Package, please visit http://www.uso.org/ and http://www.usocares.org/.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. For more information on Lockheed Martin, please visit http://www.lockheedmartin.com/.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin