More than 2,800 Lockheed Martin employees will receive President George W. Bush's prestigious Volunteer Service Award during National Volunteer Week, April 23-29. The award recipients are among thousands of Lockheed Martin employees nationwide who collectively logged more than 1 million volunteer hours in 2005. Since 2002, more than 2.2 million hours have been logged by Lockheed Martin volunteers.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, 405 employees in the Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control and Enterprise Information Systems companies will receive the honor for their collective 136,545 hours of volunteer service.

Employees were eligible for the award if they logged more than 100 volunteer hours on the corporation's volunteer Web site for 2005. The President's Volunteer Service Award is presented by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, an organization created by President George W. Bush to help foster a culture of service, citizenship and a sense of responsibility by encouraging outstanding volunteer service and civic participation. The award consists of a pin, a letter from President Bush and a certificate of appreciation in the name of the employee.

"We are exceptionally proud of our employees who give so many hours to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods," said Ralph Heath, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. "Through our Distinguished Community Service Awards program, we are contributing $52,500 to the non-profit organizations receiving 250 hours or more of volunteer service from nearly 200 of our employees."

"Lockheed Martin volunteers across the Corporation are involved with a wide variety of community service projects, from blood drives, health and human services programs, mentoring and tutoring programs in schools and projects that support our military organizations," said Jim Berry, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Missiles and Fire Control employees donated more than half a million dollars to local charities during the past year, and recorded more than 100,000 hours of community service, a testament to the legacy of giving and service at this company."

Lockheed Martin will present the President's Volunteer Service Awards to eligible employees during National Volunteer Week. Additionally, the corporation will honor every employee who entered hours on the Lockheed Martin Volunteers Web site by sending them a certificate of appreciation for their volunteer service.

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

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company