Philanthropy

International Paper Company is the world's largest paper and forest products company. It conducts most of its philanthropic activities through its foundation, International Paper Company Foundation, which was incorporated in 1952. From its inception, and continuing today, the Foundation primarily addresses existing and emerging educational needs, as well as short-term, critical civic needs within the communities where International Paper has operating facilities. It also supports those organizations where its employees actively volunteer.

The Foundation's primary focus is education - specifically environmental, economic and literacy programs for young children.

National Initiatives
Our sponsorship of the National Geographic Society's new publication National Geographic Explorer exhibits our interest in elevating literacy skills and sound environmental education through the Society's efforts to improve elementary school students' nonfiction literacy skills. The magazine provides high-quality science and social studies content that correlates with state and national curriculum standards. In addition to our gift to help underwrite distribution costs of this magazine, IP facilities have paid for more than 70,000 subscriptions for students in our local schools.

International Paper Company Foundation has been the proud sponsor of the National 4-H Forestry Invitational for more than twenty years. The Foundation recognizes the achievements of the nation's young citizens, and salutes the dedicated volunteers and professional leaders whose work enables more than 95,000 young people nationwide to participate in 4-H forestry programs each year. The purpose of the Invitational is to develop an appreciation for the importance of conserving forestland as a source of products, benefits, and services necessary for quality living. 4-H Foresters learn citizenship and leadership skills as well as practical forest management skills through participation in the 4-H Forestry Invitational. By learning these skills young people will be better prepared to own forestland or deal with environmental issues in the future.

We also sponsor up to 30 Economics for All Teachers workshops a year in conjunction with the National Council on Economic Education's five-year Campaign for Economic Literacy. To date, reports on this program are showing outstanding progress in reaching teachers across the country and providing them with tools to teach economics to K-12th graders. Since 1999, the Economics for All Teachers project has been a model for other national corporate programs in the campaign. Over the past three years this program has trained 2,700 teachers directly and another 8,100 indirectly?and has reached more than 180,000 students.

Regional/Local Initiatives
The IP Foundation looks for projects that can be implemented in communities where we operate. In addition to our national initiatives, we also support Earth's Birthday Project. This program provides third grade classrooms with caterpillar kits, garden seeds and easy-care information tools on how to grow and release Painted Lady butterflies on or near Earth Day. We have more than 100 facilities participate and sponsor more than 2000 classrooms in our communities.

Through the support of the IP Foundation, the Love-A-Tree environmental education program was developed by International Paper and introduced in North Carolina in 1997. Since then, the program has become an integral part of International Paper's commitment to environmental education, and at the completion of this year's program, more than one million North Carolina students will have enjoyed the activities included in the Love-A-Tree kits. Through unique partnerships, International Paper coordinates with state environmental agencies to bring the Love-A-Tree program to classrooms across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The program is designed to help educate elementary school students about the interconnectedness of natural systems and the importance of understanding their role in our natural environment. Each year classroom and outdoor activities are included as part of the program. The focus of this year's N.C. Love-A-Tree kit was environmental sustainability, and students were able to make their own paper from classroom paper scraps and other recycled materials using a paper-making kit included in the 2002 kit. International Paper's container plants manufacture the kit boxes; the kits are assembled at company facilities by International Paper employees, and are delivered to the pickup sites by xpedx, the company's distribution arm.

The IP Foundation continues to support the efforts of several leading environmental agencies including The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, Resources for the Future and the Izaak Walton League to name a few.