Verizon Wireless Awards $60,000 In HopeLine Grants To Asian-American Organizations In California

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Through its HopeLine® program, Verizon Wireless will award $60,000 in grants to five San Francisco Bay Area community-based organizations that focus on domestic violence prevention and awareness in the Asian-American community. San Francisco Police Chief, Heather Fong, will assist in presenting the HopeLine awards to the five recipients, including Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Asian Women's Shelter, Chinese Community Health Resource Center, Korean Community Center of the East Bay and Maitri. The ceremony will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008, at the Empress of China restaurant in San Francisco.

The five recipient agencies will use the HopeLine funding to support new and existing domestic violence prevention programs such as an online resource center, emergency shelter, youth peer counseling, transitional housing and in-language staffing support.

"We are very fortunate to receive strong support from the community and Verizon Wireless," said Michele Lew, president and chief executive officer, Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI). "While domestic violence is a tragedy for all those affected, the Asian-American community faces unique challenges and risks because of language and cultural barriers. We count on support from corporate donors like Verizon Wireless to reach at-risk communities to directly benefit domestic violence survivors and their families."

Last year, Verizon Wireless awarded three Asian-American organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area $43,000 in HopeLine grants. Verizon Wireless has awarded more than $400,000 in HopeLine grants to domestic violence prevention agencies in California in each of the past two years. In addition, HopeLine has distributed more than 2,400 wireless phones in California during the past two years, each with one year of airtime, to domestic violence agencies throughout the state.

"One out of every five Verizon Wireless employees in northern California is of Asian-American descent, so these HopeLine grants are especially important to us," said Rich Garwood, regional president of Verizon Wireless. "We are passionate about supporting organizations that work to increase awareness of domestic violence and create solutions to help prevent it within the communities in which we live and work."

The HopeLine program collects no-longer-used wireless phones and equipment in any condition from any service provider. The used phones are either refurbished or recycled. With the funds raised from the sale of the refurbished phones, Verizon Wireless donates wireless phones and airtime to victims and provides funding and other contributions to non-profit domestic violence shelters and prevention programs across the country. Since 2001, the company has collected more than 5.3 million wireless phones and distributed 80,000 phones with more than 240 million minutes of wireless service and cash grants totaling more than $5.6 million to domestic violence agencies and non-profit organization throughout the country.

How to Donate
Verizon Wireless accepts used wireless phones and equipment from any carrier at its Communications Stores nationwide. For information about where to send phones or how to organize a collection, please visit: www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.

#HOPE
By dialing #HOPE (#4673) then pressing the send button on any Verizon Wireless phone, callers will be connected directly to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, where they can receive the confidential help they need through empowerment-based crisis intervention, information and resources. The call is toll and airtime free.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 68.7 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 70,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, go to: www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

About HopeLine®
Verizon Wireless encourages customers who are upgrading their wireless phone to participate in its exclusive HopeLine phone-recycling program. The national HopeLine program distributes previously owned wireless phones to victims of domestic violence, supports non-profit domestic violence advocacy groups and provides an environmentally safe method of recycling phones. Donations are accepted at any Verizon Wireless Communications Store across the country. For additional information, customers can also visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.  

About Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI)
Focusing on the diverse Asian American community, AACI's mission is to improve the health, mental health, and well-being of individuals and their families by providing an array of human services. AACI empowers the Asian American community by working collaboratively for equality and social justice. www.aaci.org

About Asian Women's Shelter (AWS)
The mission of the Asian Women's Shelter (AWS) is to eliminate domestic violence by promoting the social, economic, and political self-determination of women. AWS is committed to every person's right to live in a violence-free home. It specifically addresses the cultural and language needs of immigrant, refugee, and U.S.-born Asian women and their children. AWS's perspective is reflected in the agency's broad strategy, which integrates culturally knowledgeable and language-accessible shelter services, educational programs, and community-based initiatives and advocacy. www.sfaws.org

About Chinese Community Health Resource Center (CCHRC)
The Chinese Community Health Resource Center (CCHRC) was established in 1989 as a community health resource center, with support from the Chinese Community Health Care Association (a physicians' independent practice association), Chinese Community Health Plan, and Chinese Hospital. In 2006, CCHRC received approval for a (501c3) non-profit status. The Center's mission is to build a healthy community through culturally and linguistically competent preventive health, disease management, and research programs. www.cchrchealth.org

About Korean Community Center of the East Bay
The Korean Community Center of the East Bay (KCCEB) was established in 1977, to empower the Korean American and other communities of the Bay Area through education, advocacy, service and the development of community-based resources, and is known to be a competent multi-service provider to K-A and other immigrant communities. www.kcceb.org

About Maitri
Maitri offers a hotline, legal and immigration advocacy, and transitional housing for South Asian women and their children impacted by domestic violence, human trafficking, cultural isolation, and unresolved family conflict, providing linguistically sensitive services and intensive client advocacy and peer counseling, as well as outreach that builds community awareness and addresses policy change. www.maitri.org

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