PRNewswire - December 22, 1999

The brainchild of PwC employee and social entrepreneur Shimul Mehta, the non-profit @ngelwish organization is the most recent and ambitious effort he has made to help the underserved population of children suffering from HIV and AIDS. After years of organizing fundraising events while a student at Rutgers University and working to involve more young professionals in philanthropy and altruistic work, Mehta became intrigued by the potential of utilizing a digital forum to reach more potential donors, as well as volunteers.

Explaining PwC's decision to promote the fledgling charity, Mary Beth Backof, Managing Partner of PwC's New Jersey Office said, "We wanted to support an organization that one of our own staff had given his time and talent to create. Angelwish.org is responding to a real need in our community and doing so in a creative way that addresses the time constraints of people, like many in our firm, who want to make a contribution, but are too busy to volunteer."

In addition to support from PwC, Mehta has been successful in attracting expertise from a variety of professional sectors. Other advisors include: Margaret Gould Stewart of the Lycos, Inc.; Mary Dressendofer of Deloitte & Touche; Sanaz Hojreh of the NJ Performing Arts Center in Newark; Rodney Gabriel of Brean Murray & Company, and Alyson Miller-Greenfield of the NJ Small Business Development Center at Rutgers.

When the projected costs of developing and launching a state-of-the-art web site for the angelwish.org became prohibitive, Miller-Greenfield suggested seeking pro bono services from Technology New Jersey, a trade organization for Internet and other Information Technology professionals. Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), one of the nation's largest management consulting, systems integration and outsourcing consultancies, responded immediately and offered extensive technical and creative services.

According to Curtis Springtead, a partner at CSC who is based in the organization's New Jersey office, "With the emergence of e-commerce and the hiring of new staff, we feel it's important to integrate real-life experiences into the orientation process." CSC also utilizes employees who are in-between assignments to work on community service projects like the NY Special Olympics site and now, angelwish.org. While 8-10 graphic designers and project managers worked on the angelwish site, other staff began to clamor for a piece of the action. Springstead explains their enthusiasm as "not just goodwill. The pro bono projects add value to the work experience and therefore attract support and resources internally."

For more information about the @ngelwish organization's efforts to help children affected by HIV/AIDS, visit http://www.angelwish.org or contact Shimmy Mehta at 973-236-5027.

SOURCE angelwish.org

CONTACT: Shimmy Mehta of @ngelwish.org, 973-236-5027; or Diana Bella of PricewaterhouseCoopers, 973-236-4000; or Curt Springstead of CSC, 973-243-7580; or Alyson Miller-Greenfield of NJSBDC, 973-353-1927, all for @ngelwish.org/

Web Site: http://www.angelwish.org/
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