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INDIANAPOLIS – On Sunday, October 19, the Colts will team up with HopeLine from Verizon Wireless to host a cell phone collection prior to the Colts vs. Bengals game. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., volunteers from Verizon Wireless and Coburn Place will collect cash as well as used cell phones and accessories in any condition to benefit Coburn Place Safe Haven. Donations will be collected at the Colts Community Collection Stations, presented by Toyota, located outside each Lucas Oil Stadium Gate.
The drive, taking place during Domestic Violence Awareness Month this October, will benefit Coburn Place Safe Haven, an Indianapolis organization that has growing waiting lists for families in need of transitional housing. The Colts and HopeLine from Verizon pledged $20,000 with the goal of collecting 1,013 devices; to represent the number of children Coburn has helped since opening its doors in 1996.
Those who donate will receive both a donor button from Verizon and a free koozie from Coburn Place.
Wireless phones given to HopeLine are refurbished generating proceeds for the program through both cash grants and phones to those who need help. Refurbished phones – complete with 3,000 minutes of wireless service and text-messaging service – are provided to local domestic violence agencies or local government and law enforcement agencies for use with their domestic violence clients. If donated phones are unsalvageable, they are recycled in an environmentally sound way under a zero landfill policy.
"Many organizations are finding a greater need now for service due to the national dialogue about domestic violence," said Verizon Wireless Region President Lauren Love-Wright. "Indiana is no different and organizations here continue to experience more women and families coming forward for help, support, programming and housing."
The Colts Gameday Collections program will continue to run throughout the 2014 season with a different charitable collection held prior to each home game. Upcoming collections include the Sacking Hunger food drive, the DAMAR Services Collection, and the WISH Tree Toy Drive. A complete list of future collections is available at www.colts.com/collections.
About Coburn Place Safe Haven **
The vision of Coburn Place Safe Haven is of a world where every adult and child may live free from intimate partner violence, housed stably and safely, with adequate financial resources. It aims to make that vision reality through its mission of empowering victims of intimate partner violence to live as survivors. Coburn Place is Indianapolis' largest and most comprehensive provider of transitional housing to victims of domestic violence in the state of Indiana and is a nationally-recognized model program in breaking the cycles of domestic violence, poverty, and homelessness. The organization has provided life-changing support to more than 1,600 adults and children since 1996.
About HopeLine from Verizon
HopeLine® from Verizon puts our technology and the nation's most reliable and largest wireless network to work in the community by turning no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories into support for domestic violence victims and survivors. It also helps protect the environment by disposing of wireless phones in an environmentally sound way.
