Sanctuary For Families Receives Cash Donation From Verizon Wireless HopeLine Program

NEW YORK, NY — New York's Sanctuary for Families, a leading domestic violence agency in the city, has received $1,000 from Verizon Wireless to provide services for families at risk. The donation was made possible through the company's HopeLine^SM program and a recent wireless phone recycling drive conducted by The Association of Secretaries to Supreme Court Justices in New York County.

The HopeLine phone recycling program collects no-longer used wireless phones to be refurbished, recycled or sold. Phones that cannot be refurbished are disposed of in an environmentally-friendly manner. Proceeds are donated to domestic violence advocacy groups or used to purchase new phones for victims. Last fall, The Association of Secretaries collected nearly 400 wireless phones at six locations and donated them to the HopeLine program. The New York County Clerk's Office and the New York County Anti-Bias Committee participated in the collection, as well.

"Court employees were eager to support this initiative," said Justice Jacqueline Silbermann, Administrative Judge of the Supreme Court, New York County. "The successful recycling drive helps to support the court's long standing policy of protecting victims of domestic violence."

In support of the State Supreme Court's phone recycling effort, Verizon Wireless made the cash donation to Sanctuary for Families, which is dedicated to meeting the needs of victims of domestic violence. Since its founding in 1984, Sanctuary has become a recognized model among domestic violence agencies for providing a range of culturally sensitive and integrated services.

"The HopeLine phone recycling program is an easy way for community-minded citizens to help victims of domestic violence," said Charles Hand, president of Verizon Wireless' New York Metro area. "Domestic violence does not discriminate; it's all around us in places most of us would never imagine. Citizens who support the program could very well be helping their own friends or neighbors."

In 2003, the company collected more than 900,000 wireless phones for recycling and donated more than $2.3 million in monetary and other contributions to domestic violence shelters and advocacy organizations throughout the country. In the New York Metro area, Verizon Wireless donated nearly $45,000 to domestic violence agencies and collected over 25, 000 wireless handsets, keeping them out of local landfills. For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.  

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless is the nation's leading provider of wireless communications. The company has the largest nationwide wireless voice and data network and 37.5 million customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To receive broadcast-quality video footage of Verizon Wireless operations, log onto www.thenewsmarket.com/verizonwireless.

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