Verizon Joins NFL to Give Back to the Community

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As the nation counts down to Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium, Verizon has partnered with the NFL and the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee to get local students and football fans alike excited about The Big Game, while also giving back to the community.

Super Kids-Super Sharing is an NFL community impact project that teaches students to recycle items they no longer use, including books, sports equipment and school supplies, and donate them to others in the community who can benefit from them. This year’s program, which took place at Essex County College in Newark on Jan. 9 and Riverbank State Park in Harlem on Jan. 16, introduced its first cell phone recycling drive to benefit HopeLine. HopeLine from Verizon collects no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories and turns them into support for domestic violence organizations nationwide. Through HopeLine, Verizon has donated more than 150,000 phones with voice and text service and awarded millions of dollars in cash grants to partner agencies.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with Verizon Wireless for this year’s Super Kids-Super Sharing program,” said Jack Groh, director of the NFL Environmental Program. “Our goal with this program in every Super Bowl host city is to teach children how to give back to their communities, and adding a cell phone recycling drive to benefit HopeLine is yet another way to show students how their collection efforts make a positive impact in the community.”

Thanks to the generosity of students, teachers and other members of the New Jersey and New York communities, more than 1,000 phones were collected for HopeLine. In addition, Verizon Wireless gave $10,000 HopeLine grants to two local domestic violence organizations in recognition of the work they do to protect children and families throughout the New York Metro Region. Grant recipients included Babyland’s Family Violence Program, a safe haven in Newark for families directly affected by domestic violence, and Safe Horizon Streetwork’s Harlem Center, a refuge for homeless and street-involved young people in New York City affected by domestic violence.  

Main Photo Caption: Gregg Schenkel, director of Stores, Verizon Wireless (second from left), with Jack Groh (right), director of NFL Environmental Program, Stevie Brown of the New York Giants and Kyle Wilson of the New York Jets, presents a HopeLine donation to Babyland Family Services in Newark to benefit the Family Violence Program.

Inline Photo Caption: Kingsley Ukwubiwe, Harlem store manager, Verizon Wireless (third from right), with Jack Groh (right), director of NFL Environmental Program, Kevin Boothe of the New York Giants and Jaiquawn Jarrett of the New York Jets, presents a HopeLine donation to Safe Horizon to benefit Streetwork’s Harlem Center.  

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