Volvo Names Portland Woman One of Nation's Three Top Hometown Heroes

Celebrity Judges to Honor Paula Lucas at March 24 Volvo for life Awards Ceremony in Times Square With a $50,000 Charitable Contribution; One Grand Winner Will Receive a Volvo Car for Life

PORTLAND, Ore., March 14 -- Volvo Cars of North America today named Paula Lucas of Portland, Ore., one of the nation's top three hometown heroes in the third annual Volvo for life Awards. Lucas, a domestic abuse survivor helping American women escape abusive relationships while living abroad, is the winner in the Safety hero category.

Lucas will now go to New York City, where on March 24 she will be honored along with the Environment and Quality of Life category winners in Times Square at the Volvo for life Awards Ceremony, a gala event attended by more than 200 New York media, hosted by Jim Belushi and featuring music by The Black Crowes.

The Volvo for life Awards is the largest-ever national search for and celebration of everyday heroes, with Volvo Cars of North America providing $1 million in awards and contributions. The program, launched in June 2004, called for individuals nationwide to visit www.volvoforlifeawards.com and nominate an unsung hometown hero they know in one of three categories: safety, quality of life or environment. Volvo received 4,272 nominations representing all 50 states. Volvo then selected three finalists in each of the three categories. In February, a distinguished panel of judges -- including Hank Aaron, Paul Newman, Caroline Kennedy, Maya Lin, Bill Bradley, Dr. Sally Ride and Eunice Kennedy Shriver -- then selected the three category winners, including Lucas in the safety category.

At the ceremony, Volvo will premiere a mini-documentary on Lucas' work and the program's judges will present her with a $50,000 contribution to the charity of her choice. Volvo also will reveal which of the three winners is the overall grand winner, who will receive the designation of "America's Greatest Hometown Hero" and be presented with a new Volvo every three years for the rest of her life.

In 1999, Lucas and her children fled to the United States from their home in the Middle East, where they had for 12 years endured horrible abuse by her husband. If her husband or his family had caught her, she would have been imprisoned and would have never seen her children again. After returning to the United States, Lucas had to fight to retain legal custody of her children, and learned that no programs existed to assist American citizens wishing to repatriate, particularly women leaving abusive marriages overseas. Determined to help women in similar situations, Lucas created the American Domestic Violence Crisis Line (866-USWOMEN), a non-profit organization that serves the estimated 60,000 to 80,000 American women and children abused per year overseas. A lifeline to hundreds of women and their families, in 2004 alone, Lucas' hotline provided crises intervention for 150 families. And, the organization provided airline tickets for four families to return to the United States, emergency housing for 10 families, and legal retainers for four additional families.

Hope Bevilhymer, a West Jordan, Utah amputee distributing prosthetic limbs to developing countries, was named the top quality of life winner. Lisa Busch, a Sitka, Alaska native bringing environmentalists and timber proponents together to revitalize her community, was named the top environmental hero. The six remaining finalists in the initiative also will be on hand and each will receive a donation of $25,000 to the charities of their choice.

"We look forward to honoring Paula at our awards ceremony and recognizing the work she has done to improve the safety of thousands of people worldwide. We also applaud the efforts of our other two category winners and six finalists, as well as the efforts of the more than 4,200 heroes who were nominated for our program this year," said Vic Doolan, president and chief executive officer for Volvo Cars of North America.

For more information on the Volvo for life Awards and to view this year's nominees' and finalists' stories, visit www.volvoforlifeawards.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For photos and more information on the Volvo for LifeAwards: www.volvocars-pr.com.