Dr. Carolyn G. Williams, Bronx Community College (BCC) president, David Samberg of Verizon Wireless and Ruth Villalonga of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, teamed up this week to launch UHopeLine, an extension of the company’s exclusive HopeLine® wireless phone recycling program which places permanent collection points on college campuses. UHopeLine is designed to increase awareness of dating violence and encourage college students to help the environment by recycling no-longer-used wireless devices. In recognition of BCC’s participation, Verizon Wireless made a $1,000 donation to student programs aimed at combating relationship abuse. Championed by the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, the City University of New York is the first university in New York State to host UHopeLine. The BCC collection point is one of eight UHopeLine bins placed at key locations on CUNY campuses throughout the City.

(Pictured left to right - Dr. Carolyn G. Williams, David Samberg and Ruth Villalonga)

Dr. Antonio Perez, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) president, and Deborah Parker, director of BMCC’s Women’s Resource Center, were joined by Daniel Nieves of Verizon Wireless to launch UHopeLine, an extension of the company’s exclusive HopeLine® wireless phone recycling program which places permanent collection points on college campuses. UHopeLine is designed to increase awareness of dating violence and encourage college students to help the environment by recycling no-longer-used wireless devices. In recognition of BMCC’s participation, Verizon Wireless made a $1,000 donation to the campus Women’s Resource Center. Championed by the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, the City University of New York is the first university in New York State and only the second in the country, to host UHopeLine. The BMCC collection point is one of eight UHopeLine bins placed at key locations on CUNY campuses throughout the City.

(Pictured left to right - Dr. Antonio Perez, Deborah Parker, and Daniel Nieves)

Boy Scout Joe Granata from Cranston Troop 66 Garden City collected more than 150 cell phones to donate to HopeLine for his Eagle Scout project. He went door-to-door to collect phones and placed collection boxes at local businesses and at Brown University. Joe's Eagle Scout project was the first of its kind in the New England region. In recognition of Joe's efforts, Verizon Wireless gave a $1,000 grant to the Rhode Island Coalition against Domestic Violence (RICADV).

Pictured (l to r): Joe Granata, Eagle Scout candidate; Michael Murphy, New England public relations manager, Verizon Wireless; Deborah DeBare, executive director, RICADV. Photo credit: Warwick Beacon newspaper.

Hoping to “team up to call a timeout on Domestic Violence,” the Miami HEAT introduced the HopeLine phone drive during its 2008-2009 season. Throughout the season, HEAT employees collected 120 cell phones and more than 200 cell phone accessories. After the HEAT publicly announced its initiative, the community donated an additional 135 phones, 72 phone chargers and 45 phone cases, showing how a good partnership can make an incredible difference.

Employees from Go Wireless, a premium retailer for Verizon Wireless, led a special Earth Day HopeLine phone recycling drive in the Southwest region from April 22-26, 2009. At the second annual “Go Green with Go Wireless” event, Go Wireless employees collected more than 200 phones and accessories at six Go Wireless stores in Albuquerque, El Paso, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson to benefit the Verizon Wireless HopeLine program.

Pictured (l to r): Parker Creson, representative, Indirect Distribution, Verizon Wireless; Tyler Hall, wireless consultant, Go Wireless; Jacob White, sales professional, Go Wireless; Jose Rodriguez, manager, Go Wireless; James Silva, account manager, Verizon Wireless; Seth Huggins, district manager, Verizon Wireless; Jim Silva, district manager, Go Wireless; Zach Ray, manager, Go Wireless.

"So many of us have cell phones, and when we get a new one we don’t know what to do with the one we’re no longer using. HopeLine provided us with a project that was fairly easy to implement and benefited both the environment and those in need. And our students learned that, by working together, we have the power to make a difference is people's lives."
— Lynn Schweighardt, coordinator of The Youth Power Club at the Hoover Elementary School

Volunteers from the Nebraska-Iowa District of Kiwanis International played a key role in the success of a HopeLine phone drive by assisting with the collection of 1,210 wireless phones from designated drop-off locations throughout Lincoln and Lancaster County. Verizon Wireless pledged a $5 donation for each handset collected to benefit the Friendship Home, a 24-hour emergency shelter for battered women and their children in Lincoln. The phone drive raised a total of $6,050 that the Friendship Home will use for children’s services and advocacy.

Jasmine Bellamy, president of the Westchester County, N.Y., chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s oldest African-American service sorority, met with fellow sorority member Eileen Lambert, Verizon Wireless associate director of human resources, to present some of the nearly 600 no-longer-used wireless phones collected at the sorority’s regional conference in New York City.

After researching various phone recycling programs for his company to participate in, Ceasar S. Cruz knew that the HopeLine Program, which aids survivors of domestic violence, was where their no longer used phones must go. Domestic violence awareness is a cause very dear to Ceasar’s heart. Having experienced his own loved ones suffering from the scars of abuse, he felt empowered to help other survivors that need assistance. “The people in our office who have donated, love the cause,” said Cruz. “I don't know what personal reasons, if any, others may feel toward it, they feel like they're helping out.”

Verizon Wireless both supported and was honored at the Hearts With Hope Gala, the annual fundraising event of Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV). The event raised over $580,000 for women and children affected by domestic violence in the Atlanta area. For nearly a decade, Verizon Wireless has supported PADV by organizing clothing and toiletry collections for its shelter, sponsoring and participating in the Heats With Hope Gala and the annual When Domestic Violence Goes to Work business conference and donating 10 percent of the proceeds from its Books Are Fun sales, to name a few.

Pictured (l to r): Julie Smith, External Affairs, Verizon; Cathy Spraetz, Partnership Against Domestic Violence, president and CEO; Jim McGean, president, Verizon Wireless-South Area; Caran Smith, Public Relations, Verizon Wireless – Georgia/Alabama regiona, Jeff Mango, region president, Verizon Wireless – Georgia/Alabama