FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – When you ask people to donate an old cell phone, you never know what you’re going to get.
For its HopeLine program that is designed to fight domestic violence, Verizon Wireless has received phones in a variety of conditions, but nothing has topped the bag phones, which were among the first cell phones produced back in 1992.
But that’s OK.
Verizon will take them. When the Falcons host the Chicago Bears on Sunday at 8:20 p.m. at the Georgia Dome, Verizon will be collecting cell phones that are no longer used for the second time this season.
October is national Domestic Violence Awareness month.
“You wouldn’t believe what we get,” said Caran Smith, a regional manager of public relations for Verizon. “We encourage them to clean out their closets and people change their phones so quickly as the technology advances that [the bag phones] are being fewer and fewer. We’ll take the phone if it is not refurbishable. We’ll take any phone from any service provider in any condition.”
On Tuesday, Smith was in Valdosta, Ga., presenting a check for $500 to The Haven, a domestic violence shelter. Two weeks ago, she presented a $2,500 check to another organization in Savannah called Safe Shelter.
Some of that money comes from phones donated at Falcons’ games. Fans can donate their old phones at the Verizon Wireless tent on Falcons Landing or at any of four kiosks at the Verizon Wireless Club at the Georgia Dome, which is located on the 200 level.
This is the sixth year that Verizon has worked with the Falcons on the program, which is national in scale. Since establishing the program in 2001, Verizon has donated $7 million to organizations that fight domestic violence, Smith said.
Verizon also undertook the phone drive at the Falcons’ season opener on Sept. 13. Other games when fans can donate their phones will be Nov. 8 and Dec. 13. From January through June, the state-wide program has received 13,000 phones.
“The partnership with Verizon Wireless creates opportunities for our organization to extend the reach of our resources to communicate throughout Georgia,” said Jim Smith, Falcons’ Vice President of Marketing. “Through the HopeLine program, Falcons fans can help us make a difference for Georgia’s victims of domestic violence.”
When phones are no longer usable, Verizon removes the batteries and recycles them in an environmentally safe way, Caran Smith said. If they can be refurbished, Verizon resells them and the proceeds are turned into grants.
In some cases, Verizon will take a refurbished phone and give it 3,000 minutes. Those phones are donated to shelters that help women who are escaping domestic violence situations, as well as law enforcement agencies.
“We put a phone number and minutes so that these women can have a communication device,” Caran Smith said. “It’s so important for them to let friends and family know they’re OK. If they’re going through the legal system and going through shelter they can let employers know. And also they have [global positioning satellite] technology. If they do have to call for help, they’re able to be located.”
