Verizon Wireless fights domestic violence

Verizon Wireless Marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month with Community Activities Nationwide [November 6, 2008]

Company Awards Nearly $150,000 to Local Organizations, Honors HopeLine Heroes, and Partners with Sports Teams to Collect Phones Among Other Efforts

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, a recognized corporate leader in domestic violence awareness and prevention, put its technology to work for domestic violence victims during October, highlighting its HopeLine(R) phone recycling program as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) activities.

Verizon Wireless partnered with sports teams, local governments and universities across the country to sponsor events and hold phone drives to raise awareness of domestic violence and collect no-longer-used wireless phones to benefit survivors. Across the country, the company also presented HopeLine grants totaling nearly $150,000 and honored two HopeLine Heroes for their work on behalf of victims.

Some of Verizon Wireless' efforts during DVAM included:

Partnerships with colleges and universities to raise awareness of domestic violence:

    --  Rutgers University in New Jersey introduced UHopeLine, establishing
    permanent cell phone recycling points on campus.
--  Best-selling author and empowerment specialist Yasmin Davidds shared her
    story of survival with students at several colleges and universities in
    the Western United States and discussed domestic violence in the Latino
    community.
--  Verizon Wireless continued its sponsorship of the Red Flag college
    campus campaign in Virginia to build awareness of the signs of partner
    violence.

Phone drives at sporting events:

    --  Several professional football teams, including the Denver Broncos and
    the Buffalo Bills, hosted phone recycling drives at Sunday afternoon
    games.
--  Several schools, including the University of Texas -- El Paso and the
    University of Wyoming, conducted phone collections during college
    football weekends.

Presentation of nearly $150,000 in donations made to organizations that support domestic violence prevention programs such as:

    --  Five San Francisco Bay Area organizations in the Asian-American
    community: Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Asian Women's
    Shelter, Chinese Community Health Resource Center, Korean Community
    Center of the East Bay and Maitri.
--  Friendship Home in Nebraska that provides 24-hour emergency shelter,
    transitional housing and programs for families of domestic violence.
--  Albion Fellows Bacon Center in Indiana to makeover the
    organization's playground area, presented as a grant from the
    Indiana Pacers Foundation and Verizon Wireless.

Sponsorship and participation in many community events to increase awareness of domestic violence, including:

    --  The Montgomery County Women's Center 2nd Annual "Walk a Mile
    in Her Shoes" event in Texas.
--  The Clothesline Project in Mobile, Ala., and throughout Florida.

HopeLine Hero Awards presented to the following individuals for their ongoing efforts to prevent domestic violence and support those scarred by domestic abuse:

    --  Florida Governor Charlie Crist.
--  Yolanda B. Jimenez, commissioner of the New York City Mayor's
    Office to Combat Domestic Violence.

HopeLine is Verizon Wireless' exclusive year-round phone recycling and reuse program that collects no-longer-used wireless phones, batteries and accessories in any condition from any wireless service provider to benefit victims of domestic violence. Proceeds from the HopeLine program are used to provide wireless phones and cash grants to local shelters and non-profit organizations that focus on domestic violence prevention and awareness.

For more information about Verizon Wireless and the HopeLine program, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 70.8 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 71,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, go to: 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.

SOURCE Verizon Wireless [ press release ]