AvalonBay Supports 'Make a Difference Day'

AvalonBay Residents and Employees Volunteer Across the Country

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- On Saturday, 25 October 2008, several thousand residents, staff, and management of AvalonBay apartment communities all across the country partnered in "Make a Difference Day", a national day of service sponsored by USA Weekend. Activities were planned and organized at AvalonBay's corporate office in Alexandria, Virginia and throughout the Company's residential communities nationwide. AvalonBay residents and staff generously gave their time, energy, and talents to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods, towns, and counties.

AvalonBay-sponsored projects covered a wide variety of volunteer activities from blood drives to neighborhood cleanups to repairing the homes of the elderly and infirm in 10 cities across the nation. In Lexington, Massachusetts, residents of Avalon at Lexington Hills joined staff and local officials to raise money for local schools. In San Francisco, Avalon Mission Bay North residents, staff and volunteers organized an auction of valuable sports memorabilia to benefit the local YMCA. In Long Island, New York, staff and residents cleaned up an important local beach. These projects and many others like it helped display one of AvalonBay's core values, the Spirit of Caring.

One of the most successful projects was in New York City; Avalon Riverview staff and residents organized a neighborhood cleanup, clothing and food drive. The residents and volunteers spent the day clearing trash from the streets in Long Island City Queens, and contributed over 1,500 items of food and clothing for HELP USA, a local non-profit. The New York City Department of Sanitation awarded Avalon Riverview the Certificate for a Cleaner New York award.

A staunch advocate of volunteerism and public service, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said "Make a Difference Day is a very special event that, once a year, brings people across the country together, volunteering on behalf of their fellow citizens and communities. It is gratifying to see such a remarkable level of community involvement and public service by so many, and it is a testament to the caring spirit of Americans everywhere. I commend AvalonBay for its determination to improve the communities in which they work. I encourage everyone to look to the example of the thousands of Americans from coast to coast who, on "Make a Difference Day" reached out to their neighbors and made their communities better places in which to live."

AvalonBay CEO, Bryce Blair said: "This was a wonderful weekend of sharing AvalonBay's spirit of caring in many of our communities across the country. It has been terrific to see the community spirit and the desire to make a difference shown by our residents, staff, and the civic-minded organizations they worked with side by side. On behalf of the entire Company, I would like to thank them for making this day an overwhelming success. It is people like this who make AvalonBay homes and communities such outstanding places to live."

Below are just a few of the details from the various Avalon projects nationwide:

At AvalonBay Corporate Headquarters, in Alexandria, VA, staff members partnered with Rebuilding Together Alexandria to renovate and rebuild homes in Alexandria, Virginia. The staff worked on seven homes, installing weather stripping and insulation of homes owned by low-income and elderly residents throughout Alexandria.

At Avalon Arlington Heights, in Arlington Heights, IL, residents and staff organized and carried out a blood, food and clothing drive. The partner for the blood drive was Lifesource, for which it raised 23 pints of blood; the partner for the food and clothing drive was Shelter Inc. an organization providing emergency and temporary housing for thousands of children, for which 700 items of food and clothing were donated.

At Avalon Court, in Melville, NY, residents and staff worked together to clean up a local beach, in order to improve the environment and to help save the endangered Piping Plover. The volunteers, staff, local officials and residents spent the day in rainy conditions clearing beach refuse. In addition, Avalon Court raised over 500 items of food in a drive to support the needy.

In Connecticut, residents and staff from five AvalonBay communities in the Stamford area organized a walkathon to benefit the recovery effort of Corinne Lantz, a local teenager who was critically injured in a tragic accident and was left paralyzed from a spinal cord injury. Funds went to the National Transplant Assistance Fund, which is the fundraising mechanism for Corinne, the event raised 8,000 dollars. Corinne Lantz is now working with AvalonBay to champion the cause of the National Transplant Assistance Fund.

At Avalon at Lexington Hills, in Lexington, MA, residents and staff held a walkathon to raise money for the Lexington Education Foundation. The walkathon which featured residents, senior management and local officials raised over 2,000 dollars, with additional pledges still to come.

At Avalon Meydenbauer, in Bellevue, WA, residents and staff, working with the Seattle chapter of the American Red Cross, organized a walkathon. The walkathon raised an impressive 5,000 dollars.

At Avalon Mission Bay, in San Diego, CA, residents and staff carried out a book drive, fundraiser and painting project on behalf of Crown Point Elementary School. This event featured many activities including food, and live music. The initiative with over 60 volunteers, painted the school, donated 520 books and raised approximately 1,000 dollars for the school.

At Avalon Mission Bay North, in San Francisco, CA, residents and staff organized an auction of valuable sports memorabilia donated by the San Francisco Giants and San Francisco 49ers. The auction raised over 3,000 dollars for a local YMCA chapter.

At Avalon Traville, in North Potomac, MD, residents and staff organized a food drive in partnership with Manna Food Center, an organization providing food assistance to nearly two thousand needy households each month. The drive was a success as it gathered over 1,000 items of food.

About AvalonBay:

AvalonBay Communities Inc. is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring, and managing apartment communities in high barrier-to-entry markets of the United States. More information can be found at www.avalonbay.com. As of March 31, 2008, AvalonBay owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 183 apartment communities, with a total of 52,167 apartment homes, in ten states and the District of Columbia. Of these, 22 communities were under construction and eight communities were under reconstruction.

SOURCE AvalonBay Communities Inc.

Released October 27, 2008