Robin Vest (third from left), Kids Count Foundation board president, and Kathy Buskirk, Kids Count Foundation program coordinator, visited the PPG La Porte chemicals plant to receive a $5,000 PPG Industries Foundation check for the St. John’s After School Program. PPG representatives participating in the presentation, from left, are Derick Meadows, customer quality assurance group leader; Tyson Long, millwright; Tom Narbit, La Porte plant manager; Chuck Watson, millwright; John Langenfeld, La Porte finance manager; and Wylie Barrow, senior engineering associate.

LA PORTE, Texas, Feb. 7, 2011 – The PPG Industries Foundation donated $5,000 to the Kids Count Foundation for the St. John’s After School Program, which partners with the La Porte Elementary School to provide services free of charge to more than 100 at-risk children.

“We are very grateful for this support from PPG,” said Kathy Buskirk, director of the St. John's After School Program. “The funding helps us to provide children who are experiencing difficult life situations with a safe place, healthy snacks, and services that help them learn to communicate effectively, solve problems and practice pro-social behavior, all of which helps them to gain a sense of self-control and self-esteem.”

The Kids Count Foundation supports projects such as the St. John’s After School Program that are designed to reduce at-risk outcomes by connecting children with positive, caring adults who have high expectations and who help to teach them good social and communication skills.

The St. John's After School Program provides more than 100 elementary and junior high students with snacks, homework assistance and access to a computer lab, all free of charge, each day during the school year. The junior high students mentor the elementary students as well as getting help with their homework, and the program offers the children music lessons, sign language lessons, business instruction, cooking and gardening classes, and many other enhancement activities.

“PPG is strongly committed to supporting the communities where its employees work and live,” said Tom Narbit, plant manager for PPG’s La Porte chemicals manufacturing facility. “We are proud to support the Kids Count Foundation and the St. John’s After School Program in providing needy children in La Porte with positive influences that help to affirm them and assist them in realizing their full potential and looking toward a future filled with hope.”

Established in 1951, the PPG Industries Foundation demonstrates the values of PPG Industries by enhancing the quality of life in communities where the company has a presence. Interests of the foundation, in order of priority, are education, human services, culture and arts, and civic and community affairs. PPG also supports charitable causes by encouraging employee volunteerism and executives’ involvement with nonprofit organizations.

About the Kids Count Foundation
The Kids Count Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that supports various community-based programs and services designed to benefit the public, needy individuals, families and groups. The St. John’s After School Program started in 1996, when St. John’s Episcopal Church in La Porte, Texas, opened its doors to 25 children experiencing life challenges that placed them at risk for failure.

About PPG
PPG Industries’ vision is to continue to be the world’s leading coatings and specialty products company. Founded in 1883, the company serves customers in industrial, transportation, consumer products, and construction markets and aftermarkets. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, PPG operates in more than 60 countries around the globe. Sales in 2010 were $13.4 billion. PPG shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: PPG). For more information, visit www.ppg.com.

–110207LaPorte_KidsCountFdn– Contact:
K.C. McCrory
PPG Corporate Communications
412-434-2445
kmccrory@ppg.com