| The Institute won the Corporate Social Responsibility Award from PR News at the annual Corporate Social Responsibility awards luncheon at the National Press Club in March. The AICPA received the award for its volunteer efforts and its initiatives to build community ties. The Institute also received the inaugural Best Community Development Award, sponsored by Accentuate Staffing, for its local outreach, and the 2008 Business Champions Award from Business Leader magazine and Wake Tech Community College, for its contributions to job growth and employee training programs. Following its relocation to North Carolina, the Institute worked with the Volunteer Center of Durham and Durham Public Schools to build a foundation for volunteer opportunities for AICPA employees. Among other things, the Institute has sponsored the Durham Bulls Education Rewards Program, which brought 10,000 students and 9,000 educators to baseball games last summer, supported Project Homeless Connect, and contributed to various local arts organizations. In March, the Institute invited Rep. David Price, D-N.C., to meet the Institute’s staff and Hillside High School students at the AICPA’s Durham office. Price discussed issues, including public transportation, outsourcing, local homeland security and mental health assistance for war veterans. Recently, more than 35 AICPA employees volunteered to help build a Habitat for Humanity home in Durham.The workers and the AICPA’s co-sponsorship of the activity helped make homeownership possible for a single mother and her three children. | 
