Verizon Wireless Launches Seventh Annual 'Kids In Need Holiday Drive' In New England

WOBURN, MA — To make the holidays a little brighter for children living in domestic violence shelters, Verizon Wireless is conducting its annual 'Kids In Need Holiday Drive' for the seventh consecutive year at its Communications Stores throughout New England. Each store has 'adopted' a local domestic violence shelter in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, and will collect new, unwrapped toys, games, and books for children ranging in age from infants to teens.

From Nov. 15 through Dec. 15, Verizon Wireless Communications Stores throughout the region will collect donations for the Kids In Need Holiday Drive. Items collected will be donated to local domestic violence shelters. Verizon Wireless has organized this outreach as a part of the company's continued support of domestic violence survivors and their families.

Three FOX television stations in New England — FOX25, FOX61, and FOX23 - along with radio station WROR-FM will serve as media partners to raise awareness of the drive. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) South Station (200 Summer Street in Boston) will also serve as an additional collection point for donations.

"When children flee a home due to domestic abuse, they often do so with only the clothes on their back, leaving a favorite toy or book behind," said Ken Dixon, president of the New England region for Verizon Wireless. "We remain committed to helping survivors of domestic violence and their families. This is one more way we can help, specifically aiding the youngest victims during the holidays."

The Kids In Need Holiday Drive is one component of the Verizon Wireless HopeLine^® program, created to put wireless products and services to work to prevent domestic violence and raise awareness of the issue. Today, the multi-faceted program includes a wireless phone recycling program (accepting no-longer-used wireless phones - any make or model, from any wireless carrier), financial support for regional and national non-profit domestic violence organizations, community and corporate awareness programs, and partnerships with agencies, professional sports teams, educational institutions and corporations nationwide. No-longer-used phones can be donated to HopeLine at any Verizon Wireless Communications Stores year-round.

Since 2001, more than four million phones have been donated to HopeLine. As a result, Verizon Wireless has distributed approximately $4 million in cash grants, and more than 45,000 phones with airtime, valued at more than $13 million, to domestic violence prevention agencies and organizations throughout the country. Nearly one million no-longer-used wireless phones have been recycled in an environmentally friendly way, keeping more than 200 tons of electronic waste and batteries out of landfills.

Verizon Wireless has donated more than $70,000 in 2007 to 40 New England-based agencies dedicated to domestic violence awareness and prevention through the company's HopeLine $1,000 Grant Program.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 63.7 million customers. The largest U.S. wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 68,000 employees nationwide. The company 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 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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