Missourians Recycled More Than 12,000 Phones In 2009 Through Verizon Wireless' HopeLine Program

ST. LOUIS, MO — Last year, Missourians donated more than 12,000 no-longer-used wireless phones to HopeLine®, Verizon Wireless’ phone recycling and reuse program, to support domestic violence survivors and awareness programs statewide.

HopeLine puts the nation’s most reliable wireless network to work in communities by taking unused wireless phones and equipment from any service provider, in any condition, and turning them into potential lifelines. Proceeds from the HopeLine program are used to supply wireless phones with free airtime to survivors and to contribute grants to domestic violence agencies across the country. Phones that cannot be refurbished are recycled in an environmentally sound way.

“We are grateful to those Missourians who donated phones to HopeLine, providing domestic violence victims with a vital link to emergency services, family and friends. These 12,000 phones equal thousands of minutes of independence for domestic violence victims throughout Missouri,” said Brendan Fallis, president–Kansas/Missouri Region, Verizon Wireless.

Support for Missouri
The generosity of consumers and businesses that donated in Missouri enabled Verizon Wireless to award more than $39,500 in cash grants to 4 domestic violence agencies in the St. Louis metro area. The following agencies received grants in 2009:

• Edgewood Children’s Center (St. Louis, Mo.)
• Life Skills (St. Louis, Mo.)
• MERS/Goodwill and the SAFE Initiative Community Collaboration Project (St. Louis, Mo.)
• Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois (Belleville, Il.)

Verizon Wireless, through the Verizon Foundation, donated more than $47,000 to the following domestic violence agencies in the Kansas City, Mo., metro area:

• Synergy Services (Parkville, Mo.)
• Sunflower House (Shawnee, Kan.)
• Newhouse (Kansas City, Mo.)
• Rose Brooks Center, Inc. (Kansas City, Mo.)

Verizon Wireless, through the Verizon Foundation, also donated more than $3,750 to the following domestic violence agencies in central and southwest Missouri:

• Polk County House of Hope (Bolivar, Mo.) 
• Green Hills Community Action Agency (Chillicothe, Mo.) 
• COPE (Lebanon, Mo.) 
• Child Advocacy Center of Southwest Missouri (Monett, Mo.) 
• Family Violence Center (Springfield, Mo., area) 
• Christos House Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence (West Plains, Mo.)

Verizon Wireless’ National Commitment
Throughout 2009, HopeLine collected nearly 1.1 million old cell phones nationwide, which enabled the company to distribute nearly 23,000 phones with 69 million free minutes of service to almost 600 shelters nationwide for use by clients, and award $1.6 million in cash grants to domestic violence prevention and awareness programs across the country.

Since 2001, HopeLine has collected more than 6.7 million phones; awarded more than $7.9 million in cash grants to domestic violence advocacy groups nationwide; and donated more than 90,000 HopeLine phones with 300 million free minutes of airtime to victims, survivors and domestic violence organizations.

For more information on Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine program and to learn how to donate a wireless phone, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.  

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 91 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 83,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NASDAQ and LSE: VOD). For more information, visit 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.

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