Safe Connections In Missouri Receives $1,500 Donation From Verizon Wireless For Domestic Violence Prevention

ST. LOUIS, MO — As part of the company’s national HopeLine program, Verizon Wireless announced today that it has donated $1,500 to Safe Connections, an agency that works to reduce the impact and incidence of relationship violence and sexual assault through education, crisis intervention, counseling and support services. Safe Connections, based in St. Louis, is one of 39 domestic violence organizations in Missouri that will be receiving funds to support local education programs and shelter operations.

“We are pleased to recognize and support the work of Safe Connections,” said Brendan Fallis, president – Kansas/Missouri region, Verizon Wireless. “Their efforts to end domestic violence in St. Louis have made a tremendous difference in the lives of families experiencing domestic abuse and have raised community awareness of the need for prevention and intervention programs. Verizon Wireless has a long-standing commitment to domestic violence prevention, awareness and advocacy. Through our HopeLine program, we are fortunate to be able to work with respected local organizations like Safe Connections across the United States.”

Located in St. Louis, Missouri, Safe Connections is a place where relationship violence and its long-term effects are addressed in complete confidence and security. Our individual counseling enables hundreds of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to reclaim their lives. Our 24-hour Crisis Helpline provides resources and information to thousands of survivors, family members and concerned friends. Our prevention education program offers information about healthy relationships to thousands of teens at schools and other sites around the region.

HopeLine from Verizon puts the nation’s most reliable wireless network to work in the community by turning no-longer-used wireless phones into support for victims and survivors of domestic violence. Proceeds from the HopeLine program are used to provide wireless phones and airtime to victims of domestic violence and cash grants to local shelters and non-profit organizations that focus on domestic violence prevention. Since the launch of the HopeLine phone recycling program in 2001, this initiative has collected more than 7 million phones, given out more than $7.9 million in cash grants and distributed more than 90,000 phones with more than 300 million minutes of free wireless service.

For more information about HopeLine from Verizon visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline. If you or someone you know is a domestic violence victim call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 to talk to a counselor. All calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline are confidential.

About Safe Connections
Safe Connections is the oldest and largest locally-founded agency in St. Louis serving survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Since 1976, Safe Connections has been providing essential resources and comprehensive programs for women and teens. Safe Connections offers no-cost individual and group therapy to survivors as well as crisis intervention services for more than 8,000 callers each year through our 24-hour Crisis Helpline. Our Project HART relationship violence prevention program and Teen Talk groups help teen boys and girls pursue a lifetime of healthy, safe relationships.

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About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 107.7 million total wireless connections, including 90.7 million retail customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with nearly 83,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: 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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