Verizon Wireless And The Verizon Foundation Donate To Fight Domestic Violence

Verizon Wireless, through its' Verizon Foundation was in the holiday spirit of giving, as they announced that they're donating $300,000 to the Maryland domestic violence efforts. This money will spread out to 11 agencies that spend their time fighting domestic abuse.

Among the grant recipients is the Family Crisis Center of Prince George's County, which will receive a total of $66,500 from Verizon Wireless and the Verizon Foundation. Prince George's County has undertaken several innovative programs designed to curb incidents of domestic violence, including a procedural shift in which domestic violence calls in County Police District III are now answered by the Prince George's County Office of the Sheriff. This change allows the Prince George's County Police Department to redeploy their officers to address other calls. Since the change in first-responder duties took effect April 30, 2006, the Sheriff's Office has answered 2,805 calls and made 102 arrests, and victim advocates have made 1,106 personal contacts. Given the success in District III, the Office of the Sheriff anticipates assuming first responder duties in District IV by spring of 2007, and eventually serving the entire county.

One of the unique features of this particular giving program is that a lot of the money came from recycling cell phones that are brought into participating Verizon Wireless stores. So the next time you're getting rid of your Verizon Wireless phone you may want to see about turning it into charity.