Subaru of America Contributes $5,000 to American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation's Minority Scholarship Fund

(ROCKVILLE, MD-2001) The American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHFoundation) today announced that Subaru of America, Inc., has contributed $5,000 to support the Foundation's Minority Graduate Student Scholarship Fund. The announcement was made during the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) in New Orleans, of which Subaru is a co-sponsor.

The Foundation's Minority Graduate Student Scholarship Fund is awarded to minority students in communication sciences and disorders programs who demonstrate academic merit and promise.
"The American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation is pleased to have Subaru join a growing list of sponsors who support the educational needs of our future generation of professionals," said Nancy Minghetti, the Foundation's executive director. "Given Subaru's commitment to diversity, it is especially fitting that its donation will support our Minority Graduate Student Scholarship Fund, which seeks to identify the best and brightest minority students dedicated to changing the lives of children and adults with communication disorders."

Maria Silvon, promotions and sponsorship specialist with Subaru of America, Inc., said, "Subaru is proud to support ASHA's mission to ensure that all people with speech, language, and hearing disorders have access to quality services by supporting the professions of speech-language pathology, audiology, and speech and hearing science. Subaru's dedication to safety and performance translates directly to the needs of ASHA professionals in the performance of their responsibilities and makes our partnership a natural one."

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation is a charitable organization working to promote a better quality of life for children and adults with communication disorders. Its mission is to advance knowledge about the causes and treatment of hearing, speech, and language problems.

ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 103,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders.

About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Subaru pioneered the concept of the passenger car/sport-utility vehicle with the introduction of the Subaru Outback, the "World's First Sport Utility Wagon." The Subaru Legacy is the best selling All-Wheel Drive car sold in America, based on the Polk Company retail registration statistics as of 12/31/00.

Headquartered near Philadelphia, the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of 582 dealers across the United States. All Legacy and Outback models sold in the United States are produced at the Subaru-Isuzu Automotive Inc. manufacturing plant near Lafayette, Ind. Over the past eight years, the company has achieved year-over-year retail sales increases thanks to its popular line of car-based sport utility vehicles, and is among the fastest growing brands in the automobile industry.