Volvo Looks to Arizona for New Hero Nominations

America's Greatest Hometown Hero, Peoria Woman Rose Mapendo, Helps Volvo Call all Arizona Heroes in the 6th Annual Volvo for Life Awards

Visit www.volvoforlifeawards.com to give your local hero a chance at $100,000 and a Volvo car for life

IRVINE, Calif., July 25 -- Earlier this year, Volvo named Rose Mapendo, an African refugee and mother of 10 from Peoria, America's Greatest Hometown Hero in the 5th Annual Volvo for life Awards. As the national awards program enters its sixth year, Volvo is revisiting Arizona with hopes of uncovering more heroes from this bountiful state. Sixth Annual Volvo for life Awards nominations are being accepted now through October 15 at http://www.volvoforlifeawards.com/.

The Volvo for life Awards is the nation's largest annual search for -- and celebration of -- everyday heroes. In the 6th Annual Volvo for life Awards, three extraordinary citizens will receive a $100,000 charitable contribution to the charity of his or her choice, with one going on to receive the title "America's Greatest Hometown Hero," and with it, a new Volvo car every three years for life.

"I can't thank Volvo enough for the money they gave Mapendo International," Mapendo said. "Driving my kids around in a new Volvo XC90 is a treat I never thought I would see in my lifetime. I urge everyone to nominate their heroes and give them a chance to help their community."

Since 2002, Volvo Cars of North America has sought out and honored more than 17,000 everyday heroes in its annual Volvo for life Awards, and has contributed millions of dollars to their causes. Every hero celebrated in the program has one thing in common: they are ordinary people who are making a positive difference in the lives of others.

Following 16 months of imprisonment and torture by Congolese soldiers in the wake of Rwandan genocide, Mapendo and nine of her children ended up in a refugee camp in Cameroon, from where she resettled to Arizona and became a U.S. citizen. Once safely established in America, Mapendo helped found Mapendo International. The organization works with the U.S. Department of State and the United Nations to identify and assist Africans who are at risk of falling through the cracks of humanitarian aid efforts. Mapendo currently serves as the group's spokesperson while working full time at a local hospice and, as a single mother, raises her children, all of whom attend school and college.

If you know someone like Mapendo, visit http://www.volvoforlifeawards.com/ and share his or her story. When the nomination period closes this fall, the American public will be invited to vote for their favorite heroes online to decide the top three finalists in the categories of Safety, Quality of Life and Environment. This year, there is also a fourth Volvo for life Awards category. Volvo is elevating its annual Butterfly Award to its own youth hero category -- with a $25,000 prize -- and welcomes nominations for heroes 16 and under.

A panel of distinguished judges will then select one winner for each of the four categories. A Grand Award Winner, selected from the Safety, Quality of Life and Environment categories, will be named "America's Greatest Hometown Hero" and will be presented with a new Volvo car every three years for the rest of his or her life at the annual Volvo for life Awards Ceremony in New York City, March 19, 2008.

To learn more or to nominate a hero, visit http://www.volvoforlifeawards.com/. A Spanish version of the site can also be accessed at this address.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For photos and more information on the Volvo for life Awards: http://www.volvocars-pr.com and http://www.volvoforlifeawards.com.