Lockheed Martin employees throughout Central Florida are supporting national hurricane relief efforts as well as preparing to help evacuees who are coming to the Orlando area.

Throughout the next few weeks Lockheed Martin employees in Central Florida will be hosting a Hurricane Katrina relief concert, supporting the annual United Way campaign and participating in clothing and food drives.

"Central Florida Lockheed Martin employees know firsthand the reality of hurricane devastation, and rallied last year to keep local community resources vital," said Craig Weller, vice president of Human Resources and executive champion of this year's Lockheed Martin Heart of Florida United Way campaign. "Lockheed Martin employees have responded again this year to our neighbors along the Gulf Coast hit hard by Hurricane Katrina."

The Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control business unit will host a Hurricane Katrina relief concert today for employees at its Sand Lake Road facility from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The concert will feature two local bands, and all proceeds from the event will be donated to the United Way's Hurricane Katrina relief fund. The employee concert will not be open to the public.

In addition to raising monetary donations, employees continue to donate their time and resources to the hurricane relief effort. Employees serving on the Lockheed Martin HFUW Committee are organizing a Second Harvest food drive to benefit Hurricane Katrina evacuees. When employees learned that Florida's blood centers were accepting donations that will help them replenish blood supply in Central Florida and enable them to coordinate help for hurricane- devastated regions, 337 Lockheed Martin Central Florida employees registered to donate blood. And on Saturday, September 17, more than 700 Lockheed Martin employees took part in the Heart of Florida United Way's Day of Caring, making Lockheed Martin's the largest single-company effort for the Central Florida event for the second consecutive year.

As part of the HFUW's Day of Caring, Lockheed Martin employees spent the day at Quest, Inc.'s Laurel Hill Cluster Homes in northwest Orlando creating a wheelchair accessible nature trail, refurbishing the interior of the homes, constructing a gazebo for residents and landscaping the entrances and yards surrounding the complex. In addition to creating a better living environment for the residents at staff, the renovations may soon be appreciated by new residents who come to the Laurel Hill facility seeking refuge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

"This just blows my mind," said Bennie Bradford, director of Cluster Services at the Laurel Hill. "I'm so excited about what's going on. Thank you so much for everything you've done."

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services.

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http://www.lockheedmartin.com/

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin