NEW YORK, New York—September 12, 2006—Virtue Foundation, a public charitable organization and NGO focused on empowering vulnerable women and children worldwide through various education and healthcare initiatives, announced a partnership with Apple Computer yesterday to provide technology-driven education to children affected by Hurricane Katrina. The partnership, which includes a donation of 600 iBook G4 laptop computers, was announced at Virtue Foundation’s Fifth Annual Bicoastal Symposium at the United Nations commemorating the anniversary of September 11, where distinguished speakers included H.E. Jan Eliasson, President of the General Assembly; *Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave, author and co-honoree of the Virtue Foundation Award for Outstanding Public Service; John Whitehead, Chairman of the Goldman Sachs Foundation and co-honoree of the Virtue Foundation Award for Outstanding Public Service; John Couch, VP for Education at Apple Computer, Inc.; Karin Landgren, Chief of Child Protection at UNICEF, and Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.

“Last March, we saw the powerful and positive impact that computers can have on children when we donated 60 laptops to schools in the towns of Baker and Hammond, La.,” said Dr. Joan LaRovere, Vice President of Virtue Foundation. “Today, thanks to Apple Computer, this unprecedented donation of 600 laptops will give children in Louisiana new technological tools that will help bring education into the 21st century. We hope this is just the beginning of a new trend in technology-driven education, as children make up the social fabric of our future and we must invest in them.” The educational partnership builds upon The Virtue Foundation Education Initiative, which was launched in 2005.

The symposium, Rethinking Peace through Education and Hope, focused on the critical role of education in helping to rebuild and revitalize communities torn apart by conflicts and natural disasters, from Louisiana to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The event also debuted a stirring documentary, “Kadogo: The Little Ones,” on the plight of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo narrated by actress Anne Hathaway. Ms Hathaway has partnered with Virtue Foundation to launch the Child Soldiers Youth Initiative, which educates high school students in the Northeast about what can be done to help demobilize, rehabilitate, and reintegrate child soldiers into their communities.

Presented by Virtue Foundation in conjunction with WITNESS and AJEDI-KA, and produced by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Linda Pattillo, the documentary film featured interviews with Senator Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, who is now acting as a special advisor to the UN on the issue of child soldiers, and Karin Landgren, Chief of Child Protection at UNICEF, as well as interviews with several children who share their firsthand accounts of their harrowing experiences as former child soldiers.

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Conceived in the aftermath of September 11 and comprised entirely of volunteers, Virtue Foundation is a public charitable organization and NGO with special consultative status to the United Nations. Dedicated to raising awareness of global rights and responsibilities and assisting vulnerable women and children worldwide, Virtue Foundation sponsors medical missions and humanitarian initiatives to underdeveloped regions around the globe, targeting critical education and healthcare deficiencies.

The Virtue Foundation Education Initiative Initiative was formally launched at the 2005 Virtue Foundation co-sponsored education forum, “Louisiana: Rebuilding Through Education,” which developed a new educational paradigm in order to help revitalize schools and spur economic development, workforce training, and innovation in technology in Louisiana.

*Mrs. Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave’s name was inadvertently omitted from the original press release. The Virtue Foundation regrets this administrative oversight and any distress or misunderstanding this error may have caused. As noted above, Mrs. Villard de Borchgrave, author of Healing Light: Thirty Messages of Love, Hope and Courage, was in fact a co-recipient of Virtue Foundation’s Award for Outstanding Public Service and has been a tremendous supporter of the Foundation’s activities and initiatives.