USA Funds Awards $25,000 to American Red Cross

         Contribution will assist Indiana tornado and flood victims



    INDIANAPOLIS, July 15 /EMWNews/ -- USA Funds(R), the nation's

leading education-loan guarantor, has announced a $25,000 grant to the

American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis to support relief and recovery

efforts in the wake of severe storms, tornados and flooding in Indiana.



    The grant is helping the Red Cross provide food, clothing, shelter,

medical care, financial support and other assistance to Indiana residents

affected by the disaster. Some 60 Indiana counties were declared federal

disaster areas in the wake of the severe storms and flooding that began May

30.



    "As an Indiana-based nonprofit, we are pleased to join the long list of

organizations reaching out to our neighbors in need," said Carl C.

Dalstrom, USA Funds president and CEO. "The American Red Cross has been

working at the community level to provide basic relief and help the victims

rebuild their lives."



    Through the end of June the American Red Cross had assisted more than

3,500 Indiana storm victims seeking assistance, staffed 19 shelters and

provided nearly 139,000 meals and snacks to the Indiana storm victims.



    "It is through the generosity of community partners like USA Funds that

the Red Cross has been able to reach out to the thousands of families

across central and southern Indiana whose lives were turned upside down by

these destructive storms," said John Lyter, CEO of the American Red Cross

of Greater Indianapolis. "We are grateful for USA Funds' confidence in us

to turn their care and concern for their fellow Hoosiers into action."



    Headquartered in Indianapolis, USA Funds is a nonprofit corporation

that works to enhance postsecondary education preparedness, access and

success by providing and supporting financial and other valued services.

During the year ending Sept. 30, 2007, USA Funds guaranteed education loans

totaling $25.8 billion for students and parents throughout the nation. USA

Funds serves as the designated guarantor of federal education loans in

eight states: Arizona, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, Indiana, Kansas,

Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada and Wyoming. USA Funds also invests $16.3

million annually in scholarships and outreach programs that advance its

mission of support to higher education. For more information about USA

Funds, visit http://www.usafunds.org.