FORD FUND PRESENTS A $1 MILLION GRANT TO NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER

CINCINNATI, Nov. 22, 2002; Thanks to a generous $1 million grant from Ford Motor Company Fund, generations of local, regional and national visitors to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will begin their experience in the Freedom Center’s Welcome Hall – a grand three-story gathering place that will accommodate major public events and house an authentic 1830s slave pen.

“Ford has a long and meaningful history of social and educational involvement in the communities where we live and do business,” said Sandra E. Ulsh, president of Ford Motor Company Fund. “That commitment, coupled with our dedication to diversity, tolerance and understanding, mirrors the vision of the Freedom Center. We are proud to be among the center’s top corporate supporters.”

Freedom Center President Edwin Rigaud accepted Ford Fund’s $1 million grant and underscored the importance of corporate involvement in helping the Freedom Center fulfill its mission. “We are honored that Ford Motor Company Fund has pledged its support for our efforts to welcome people from all walks of life and raise their awareness of the unique lessons of the Underground Railroad history. Ford’s generosity will help drive the Freedom Center’s efforts to promote collaborative learning, dialogue and action to inspire today’s freedom movements.”

The 12,000-square-foot Welcome Hall will introduce visitors to the Underground Railroad experience through a 19th century slave pen used to hold slaves in transit. The Welcome Hall will also focus attention on the ongoing pursuit of freedom and the connection between slavery and freedom through a mural depicting and celebrating individuals who embody the central themes of freedom, courage, perseverance, and cooperation. The juxtaposition of these two powerful images – the slave pen and the mural representing hopelessness and vindication, respectively – will help visitors grasp and reconcile the important stories of the Underground Railroad and today’s freedom movements.

Ford Motor Company Fund joins other major corporate supporters of the Freedom Center’s “Lighting Freedom’s Flame” capital campaign, including Boeing, Cincinnati Bell, Cinergy, Convergys, Deloitte & Touch LLP, Federated Department Stores, Fifth Third Bank, General Electric Aircraft Engines, The Procter & Gamble Company, Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America Inc., and US Bank. These and other $1 million donors will be formally recognized in the Freedom Center facility with a bronze plaque to be displayed in the Freedom Center’s Welcome Hall.

“When the Freedom Center opens in 2004, it will be among the new genre of museums of conscience -- like the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. — that go beyond using traditional static exhibits to recount history. The Freedom Center will provide visitors powerful, compelling experiences that transform their hearts and inspire new understanding,” said Rigaud.

In addition to the gift from Ford Motor Company Fund for the capital campaign, United Auto Workers Local 863 has pledged a $10,000 cash contribution to the Freedom Center’s regional grassroots fundraising campaign, “Heroes are Everywhere.” The Freedom Center launched the campaign in Cincinnati in September to raise $1.5 million regionally for the facility as well as programming and education. “Our UAW employees are strong supporters of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center,” said Dan Murphy, UAW Local 863’s financial secretary and union historian. “They are making this contribution in partnership with the community.”

Additionally, a Northern Kentucky Lincoln Mercury dealership -- Sim Fryson Lincoln Mercury of Florence, Kentucky – donated a two-year lease of a 2003 Lincoln Navigator that Freedom Center staff will use for promotions and outreach to communities throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana through 2004.

With Ford Motor Company Fund’s contribution, the Freedom Center’s “Lighting Freedom’s Flame” capital campaign has raised $82 million in pledges, commitments, cash and in-kind gifts toward a total campaign goal of $110 million. The Freedom Center launched the capital campaign in 1999 to construct and endow the Freedom Center and to provide operating funds during its planning and design.

About Ford Motor Company Fund Ford Motor Company Fund is the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, and education is its top priority. Ford Fund supports non-profit organizations in three priority areas– education, community development, and environment – and continues to be committed to providing and enhancing opportunities to the people who live and work in the communities where Ford Motor Company does business. Ford Fund and Ford Motor Company are not affiliated with Ford Foundation in New York, and no member of the Ford family or Ford Motor Company management is on Ford Foundation’s board of directors. For more information about Ford Motor Company, visit www.ford.com.

About the Freedom Center The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center teaches how to understand freedom in our daily lives. In 2004, the Freedom Center’s 158,000-square-foot, $110-million complex will open and house two theatres, a hall for multicultural dialogue, six highly interactive history galleries, and an education and research center. It will serve as headquarters for a national network of Freedom Station affiliates located throughout the country. For more information, visit www.freedomcenter.org.