Microsoft continues to honor those who do great things in
celebration of Windows 10 launch, including organizations like Save
the Children, to help #UpgradeYourWorld.
REDMOND, Washington,
Sept. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/
-- Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced the winner of the 10th
global nonprofit organization partner for the Upgrade Your World
initiative, the Beagle Freedom Project. Microsoft also announced
that people can vote via social media for a chance for their
favorite local nonprofit in 10 different countries to receive a
donation.
Video - http://youtu.be/YiO2o79XVnc
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Microsoft celebrated the launch of Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, by committing to Upgrade Your
World, a yearlong initiative that celebrates people and
organizations doing great things, including a series of
partnerships with 10 global and 100 local nonprofit organizations.
Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and organization to
achieve more. Upgrade Your World is just one example of the many
ways Microsoft contributes to local communities worldwide, as
Microsoft and its employees donate more than $1 billion each year to more than 100,000
nonprofit organizations around the world.
"With Windows 10 we are celebrating people who are doing great
things, and it has been humbling to see the fantastic work people
and organizations around the world are doing to upgrade the world.
From Australia to China to the U.S., we've been inspired by the
great work of organizations like Random Acts, Cure Batten and Do
Something," said Yusuf Mehdi,
corporate vice president, Windows and Devices, Microsoft. "We
congratulate the Beagle Freedom Project as our new global partner
and look forward to seeing the amazing work it will continue to do
as part of #UpgradeYourWorld. We also look forward to celebrating
an additional 100 organizations around the world over the coming
months."
Beagle Freedom Project becomes the new global partner for
Upgrade Your World
Microsoft selected nine global nonprofit organizations and asked
people to vote for the 10th. With more than 2,000 organizations
nominated, Microsoft announced the winning organization, the Beagle
Freedom Project. Beagle Freedom Project's mission is to save the
lives of laboratory animals and change the lives of people through
these rescue operations. The organization rescues, rehabilitates
and finds homes for animals used in research laboratories across
the globe. Through these rescues, Beagle Freedom Project tells
their stories in an effort to educate the public about animal
testing and encourage dialogue about better science and
alternatives to using animals for testing, resulting in
the advancement of animal and human welfare.
In addition to a monetary donation of $500,000, the Beagle Freedom Project will receive
Microsoft technology, services and promotional support.
"Beagle Freedom Project is honored to be the winner of the
Microsoft Upgrade Your World initiative. Knowing that a company
like Microsoft is using its position to help charities such as
ours is a testament to its compassion for helping those in
need," said Shannon Keith, president
of Beagle Freedom Project. "We look forward to working with
Microsoft to grow our nonprofit mission of saving animals from
laboratories and hopefully in the future replacing animals with
more modern forms of testing that save human and animal lives
alike."
Local #UpgradeYourWorld voting starts now in 10
countries
As part of the global Upgrade Your World initiative, Microsoft
will be spotlighting 100 local nonprofit organizations making an
impact in the following 10 countries: Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Japan,
Kenya, Mexico, the United
Kingdom and the United
States. Microsoft has already identified 50 of the nonprofit
organizations (five of the 10 in each country) to receive a
monetary donation of $50,000 each,
and invites people around the world to vote for their favorite
local nonprofit organizations in each country to help select the
additional 50 organizations. The top five vote-getters in each
country will receive a donation, joining the 50 nonprofits already
chosen. In all, 10 organizations in 10 countries will each receive
$50,000, totaling $5 million. To cast a vote for an organization,
post on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using
#UpgradeYourWorld[country abbreviation, U.S. example:
#UpgradeYourWorldUSA], #vote, and tag the @[nonprofit].
September's Upgrade Your World global nonprofit partner is
Save the Children
During September, Microsoft is joining forces with Save the
Children to support its efforts to invest in children's lives by
giving them the opportunity to learn and be ready to succeed in
school. Save the Children works in the world's most vulnerable
places, from America to Zimbabwe,
saving one child at a time. For example, Save the Children is
providing services in a community situated in remote, mountainous
northern Vietnam where nearly half
of the households are below the poverty line and more than 20
percent of the population is illiterate. More can be learned here
and by watching this video from Vietnam to see the impact Save the Children is
having.
"We are really proud to be the featured nonprofit for Windows 10
in September. As children in the United
States and in many countries head back to school this month,
we want to shine a spotlight on the importance of early
education and the preschool teachers who inspire us all," said
Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of
Save the Children. "For example, in northern rural Vietnam rock stars like Sung Thi Kim — a college-educated preschool
teacher who came back to her remote village to make a difference —
are upgrading our world by giving children a foundation for success
in school and life."
To further Save the Children's mission, Microsoft is providing
the organization with a software upgrade, empowering its global
team to continue to effectively serve its mission.
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) is the leading platform and
productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and
its mission is to empower every person and every organization on
the planet to achieve more.