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News

Children Benefit from Chesapeake Gift

04/04/2008

Chesapeake Gift Means More Big Brothers and Big Sisters for Oklahoma Children. A $500,000 gift from Chesapeake Energy Corporation in Oklahoma City to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma (BBBSOK) will help provide many more mentors for Oklahoma children. The gift of $100,000 per year for five years will support the organization’s Capacity Building Campaign, which includes volunteer recruitment efforts and expenses associated with making new matches between caring adults and children in need of safe, solid role models.

Aubrey K. McClendon, Chesapeake’s CEO, is no stranger to Big Brothers Big Sisters. While a student at Duke University, he was matched to his Little Brother, Terry. McClendon said of that experience, “One of the best benefits of my college education was at the age of 18 deciding to participate in the Big Brother program in Durham, NC. There I met my then eight year old Little Brother, Terry Suggs. We are still friends 30 years later and I am proud of the progress he has made in his life from a very tough beginning. I am sure the Big Brother program was a big help to Terry, but it might have been an even bigger help to me. I am pleased for Chesapeake to be able to assist this very worthy program expand its capabilities in Oklahoma and hope that our gift will encourage others to do the same.”

In addition to the company’s financial support, Chesapeake will be working with the Oklahoma City BBBS office to recruit 150 Chesapeake employees to serve as Big Brothers and Big Sisters. John W. Jacobs, President and CEO of BBBSOK said, “We are so pleased to have the support of Chesapeake and Aubrey as we move towards our goal of more than doubling our level of service over the next five years. We look forward to a long partnership that benefits not only Oklahoma’s children, but the state’s future as well.”

Chesapeake Energy Corporation is the largest independent producer and third-largest overall producer of natural gas in the United States. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company’s operations are focused on exploratory and developmental drilling and corporate and property acquisitions in the Mid-Continent, Barnet Shale, Fayetteville Shale, Permian Basin, Delaware Basin, South Texas, Texas Gulf Coast, Ark-La-Tex and Appalachian Basin regions of the United States.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is the largest mentoring organization in the U.S. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma served almost 2400 children last year and the national organization served 242,000 children nationwide. Independent research shows that professionally supported, one-to-one relationships between young people and their Big Brothers and Big Sisters have a direct, measureable and lasting impact. Children in the program are more likely to graduate from high school and less likely to be involved in violence or use illegal drugs. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma has offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Bartlesville, Claremore, Shawnee, Stillwater, and Norman.