BAE Systems Employees Form Volunteer Exchange with Hawaii Schools

BAE Systems employees in Honolulu have partnered with Moanalua Middle School through an online volunteer exchange. Employee volunteers will provide time, money, and other needed services to the school.

The employees were paired with the middle school through the Community Business Education Exchange, or CBEX, a Web-based volunteer program. The program is the brainchild of Hawaii Sen. Norman Sakamoto, chairman of the state's Education Committee.

Moanalua Middle School and BAE Systems are pilot participants in a program designed to match the needs of schools with companies that can provide volunteer time, money, products, or services.

Already this year, BAE Systems volunteers organized a cleanup day, revamping restrooms and school grounds, and coordinated a blood drive for a student with a medical problem. BAE Systems employees sit on CBEX committees and are helping the school develop a Web site.

"BAE Systems is proud to assist Senator Sakamoto and the state of Hawaii in these trying economic times," said Alan Hayashi, site executive for BAE Systems in Honolulu. "In matching community assets to needy schools, we're doing our part -- and helping our employees do their part -- to create a better community."

BAE Systems has been involved with CBEX since the organization was founded in 2006. The company helped create the database, working with Samaritan Technologies, a developer of software for the government, education, and nonprofit sectors, and Hawaii's Department of Education to launch the pilot program.

The company continues to support the program as it seeks permanent status as a state-funded initiative. Final evaluation of the pilot program is scheduled for May.

BAE Systems' support for education in Hawaii goes beyond the volunteer exchange program to include our sponsorship of six local High Schools participating in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics competition. Since January 2008, BAE Systems mentored and provided funding to the teams to design, develop and build robots capable of competitive tasks in just six weeks. The six qualifying teams competed in the Hawaii regional competition before traveling to Atlanta during mid-April for the FIRST Championship event, where Waialua High School won the FIRST Engineering Inspiration Award.

About BAE Systems
BAE Systems is the premier global defense and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. With 97,500 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded GBP 15.7 billion (US $31.4 billion) in 2007.