EcoAssist Organization receives $ 36,195 grant from The UPS Foundation, the charitable arm of UPS (NYSE:UPS).
The grant will be used for a large project to clean protected mountain areas.

The project is called The Big Cleaning, and within this project, 3 mountain areas, visited often by tourists, will be cleaned further a national action, carried on by volunteers and local authorities. These areas are declared natural protected areas and they are included in the network named NATURA 2000 (THE NATURE 2000), a tool for the protection of the natural European patrimony.
The scope of the project is to promote the term of responsible tourism, and the main goals are: to define and to promote the term of responsible tourism ; to emphazise the consequences of the polution of a protected area’s environment ; to involve a large number of volunteers (50-100) coming from the whole country ; to involve the local authorities into a community action, along with the volunteers; to clean the most affected areas by the negligence of tourists.
The selected areas for this project are located in Bucegi Mountains, Craiul Leaota Mountains, Fagaras Mountains and Ceahlau Mountains, and the action will take place in every weekend of May 2009.

„THE BIG CLEANING is a very large project, and within this project, 3 protected areas will be cleaned with the help of the young volunteers coming from the whole country. The grant received from The UPS Foundation has surprised us from the many points of view. In the middle of the economic crisis, when we are refused by the Romanian companies, a grant from America, through the local subsidiary of UPS company, helps us to finalise one of the projects planned for 2009!” said Liana Buzea, president of EcoAssist Organization.

Established in 1951 and based in Atlanta – USA, The UPS Foundation identifies specific areas where its backing clearly impacts social issues. In support of this strategic approach, The UPS Foundation has identified the following focus areas for giving: non-profit effectiveness, economic&global literacy, encouraging diversity, community safety and environmental sustainability.
In 2007, The UPS Foundation distributed 46.4 million USD worldwide through grants that benefit organizations or programs such as The Big Cleaning project and provide support for building stronger communities.

„UPS has a long-standing commitment to making communities all over the world better by supporting organizations and engaging over 400,000 employees in community service worldwide,” said Lisa Hamilton, president of The UPS Foundation. „Together with nonprofit partners such as EccoAssist Organization, we work to make a positive impact on the lives of people in need.”