Back to School Fund Created at YWCA in Richmond, Va

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Purchasing clothes, classroom supplies and electronics for the new school year can get expensive. Families with school-age children will spend an average of $634 on back-to-school necessities this year, according to the National Retail Federation.

To help ease the financial burden for families living in temporary shelter at the YWCA of Richmond, Verizon Wireless donated $5,000 to the non-profit to create a back-to-school shopping fund. The grant was made in honor of longtime HopeLine advocate and domestic violence survivor, Sgt. Carol Adams, who has served on the Richmond Police force for the past 16 years. HopeLine from Verizon collects no longer needed wireless devices from any service provider to recycle or refurbish. Reconditioned phones are sold and the proceeds fund non-profit agencies to support domestic violence survivors.

“Many of our families arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs,” said Carol Anne Lajoie, senior director of development/marketing YWCA of Richmond. “This donation from HopeLine will help the children who are living at our shelter obtain the notebooks, binders and other everyday necessities they need to be successful in the classroom. On behalf of the hundreds of women and children we serve, thank you to Verizon Wireless and Sergeant Adams for their continued support of our mission to help survivors of domestic violence with rescue, recovery and the life-rebuilding process.”

The YWCA of Richmond is just one of the many non-profit, domestic violence service organizations that Sgt. Adams has helped support through HopeLine from Verizon. Adams has collected more than 25,000 no-longer-used phones and accessories to be recycled, making her the program’s most prolific collector. 

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