Indiana First Lady Urging Hoosiers To Donate Used Cell Phones

As National Violence Awareness Month begins, Indiana First Lady Karen Pence is urging Hoosiers to donate old and unused cell phones so they can be used to support domestic violence victims. 

Verizon’s HopeLine program has been in place since 2001, collecting nearly 11 million donated cell phones nationwide.  The company refurbishes the phones and loads them with 3,000 minutes of wireless service. 

Verizon Wireless Indiana Vice President Neil Krevda says the phones are distributed to domestic violence agencies, police forces and local government agencies, which provide them to domestic violence victims.

“The phones will help provide safety, relieve isolation, help connect family and friends and employers and the emergency services they might need,” Krevda said. 

First Lady Karen Pence says HopeLine boxes, in which people can drop off their phones, will be in every state agency building throughout the state throughout October.  And she says she hopes others will follow the state’s example.

“We got online, asked them for the number of boxes that we needed, and we got them within two or three days," Pence said. "It’s a very easy thing to do.”

Pence’s statewide HopeLine initiative comes as Indiana domestic violence shelters report as much as a 70 percent increase in the need for services in the wake of the high profile domestic violence case of NFL star Ray Rice.