Washington, DC, March 15, 2001 - Local schoolchildren today helped CARE, the international relief and development organization, celebrate a milestone anniversary, learn about a new culture and start an interactive exploration into the world of international trade. All in one morning.

It happened in a sixth-grade classroom at Ross Elementary School as the students heard from CARE officials and APL, the international container-shipping and logistics company, about a humanitarian aid shipment bound for India aboard a special APL shipping container known as the "Boomerang Box."

APL's Boomerang Box is an Internet-based learning program that helps students learn about geography, trade and transportation. In addition to the 40-foot Boomerang Box container, which students can track around the world, there is a 20-foot version known as Boomerang Box Junior that is a virtual classroom which travels to participating schools.

Ross students went outside to see the 40-foot Boomerang Box on a truck trailer, and to present art work to a CARE India official to give to schoolchildren in India. The Indian students then will "boomerang" art work back to the Americans.

"Using APL's Boomerang Box Internet-based program is a special way to highlight CARE's mission on its 55th anniversary and provide American students with a unique opportunity for cultural exchange with children around the world," said Theresa Rhodes, Senior Director of CARE in Washington.

"As CARE's partner for more than 20 years, APL is proud to take part in teaching children the value of practicing our humanitarian principles and honoring other cultures," said John Pachtner, director at APL's Oakland, Calif., headquarters.

The Washington public school was the first stop for the CARE shipment of high-protein grain earmarked for a school feeding program in India's Bay of Bengal region. Ross students placed in the "Boomerang Box" drawings illustrating their school and hometown for children in India.

As part of the Boomerang send-off, Ross students learned about life in India from special guest, CARE's India State Director, C.S. Reddy, manager of CARE programs in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He also oversees CARE's response to major emergencies in India, including the recent Gujarat earthquake. Rhodes and Pachtner talked to the students about CARE's mission and APL's role in getting food, materials and supplies to support CARE programs internationally.

"We are delighted that students at Ross Elementary were able to participate with us to learn more about CARE's vital mission and life in India," said Pachtner.

When it leaves Ross Elementary, the Boomerang Box will go to Cambria, Wisconsin, to be loaded with 44,000 pounds of a high-protein corn soy mixture. From there, the Boomerang Box travels by truck to Chicago, and from there by rail service to Seattle, where it will be loaded on the APL Philippines for the month-long voyage to Vishakhapatnam, a port on the coast of the Bay of Bengal.

The Boomerang Box, which is painted bright blue and decorated with students' art work, is easy to recognize as it moves around the globe carrying cargo. Thanks to the Internet, students in classrooms around the country track the Boomerang Box on its many voyages as part of APL's interactive learning program via a special Web site: www.apl.com/boomerangbox.

More than 150 classrooms in 35 states and 29 different countries use the Boomerang Box as a teaching tool for geography, international trade, and transportation.

APL also is the Global Sponsor of CARE's 55th Anniversary Celebration, which will be held in Washington, DC, on May 11.

CARE is one of the world's largest private international relief and development organizations. Founded in the aftermath of World War II, CARE enabled Americans to send more than 100 million CARE Packages® to survivors of the conflict in Europe and Asia. CARE has become a leader in sustainable development and emergency aid, reaching tens of millions of people each year in more than 60 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. For more than 50 years now, CARE has been a vehicle of American generosity abroad.

APL provides worldwide container transportation and logistics services though a network combining high-quality intermodal operations with state-of-the-art information technology. APL is the container and logistics arm of Neptune Orient Lines Limited (NOL Group), a global transportation company engaged in shipping and other related businesses.