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Dominion Foundation Awards $250,000 Grant to St. Joseph's Villa

The grant will help rehabilitate the grounds of the Villa's historic campus at Brook and Parham Roads, and build three new buildings, a school serving children with autism and other developmental disabilities, a custom facility for its Therapeutic Day Treatment program, and a dining hall and conference center. Dominion's gift is the largest corporate grant received in the Villa's fundraising effort.

"Dominion has long been a leader in corporate philanthropy in our community," said Villa Chief Executive Officer Kathleen Burke Barrett. "This gift is a bold step and a terrific example of long-term commitment to community interconnectedness that corporations should consider, especially in challenging times."

In sharing the decision, William C. Hall, Jr., President of the Dominion Foundation, said, "St. Joseph's Villa's programs help so many children and families in theRichmond area, and we are pleased to support their efforts." The grant comes as the Villa prepares to celebrate 175 years of service in 2009.

In 2008, Dominion, its charitable foundation and its employees invested more than $20 million and 100,000 volunteer hours in programs that help make life brighter for people in the states where Dominion operates power stations, natural gas and other energy facilities.

St. Joseph's Villa

Established as an orphanage and school in 1834, St. Joseph's Villa is the oldest and largest continuously operating children's nonprofit organization in metropolitanRichmond. The Villa moved to its present location inHenrico County in 1931, thanks to a generous gift from Major James H. Dooley. Today, St. Joseph's Villa is a non-sectarian 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which works with more than 600 children and families each day. The Villa's day and residential programs include: special and nontraditional education; education/housing services for homeless children and their families; respite, summer and after-school care for children with disabilities; emergency shelter for children in crisis; and housing for adults with disabilities.

St. Joseph's Villa admits clients of any race, color, gender, age, religion, disability or national origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to clients at St. Joseph's Villa. St. Joseph's Villa does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, age, disability, religion or national origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs and athletic and other agency-administered programs. Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any U.S.D.A. related activity should write to the Secretary of Agriculture,Washington, D.C. 20250.

Dominion

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 27,000 megawatts of generation. Dominion serves retail energy customers in 12 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at http://www.dom.com.

CONTACT: Bruce Cauthen; 804 553-3318 (office); 804 426-7030 (mobile); bcauthen@sjvmail.net (email)

SOURCE Dominion