Alabama First Lady Dianne Bentley, Local Law Enforcement And Verizon Wireless Issue "A Call For Hope"

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of that, Alabama First Lady Dianne Bentley is teaming up with the Birmingham Police Department, the Huntsville Police Department, Montgomery's One Place Family Justice Center and Verizon Wireless to encourage victims of domestic violence to seek help this holiday season by making the call to their local police department or the Alabama Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-SAFE).

First Lady Bentley, who has embraced domestic violence awareness and prevention as one of her primary community initiatives, is releasing a radio public service announcement to promote "A Call for Hope." The 60-second spot provides hotline support information for domestic violence victims and also encourages residents to donate no-longer used wireless phones, batteries and accessories to HopeLine^® from Verizon. HopeLine donations are refurbished, recycled and/or sold. Proceeds benefit victims of domestic violence via cash grants to domestic violence agencies and organizations as well as refurbished phones – complete with 3,000 minutes of wireless service – which are provided to local domestic violence organizations or local government and law enforcement agencies for use with their domestic violence clients.

"I have learned from talking to domestic violence survivors that finding the strength to make that initial call for help is crucial to saving lives," Bentley said. "I am honored to be working with law enforcement to help encourage victims to make the call for hope this holiday season. I hope people who are blessed as I am with a healthy, happy home will support this effort by donating their old phone to HopeLine."

Since HopeLine was established in 2001, Verizon has collected more than 9 million phones and generated more than $14.2 million in cash grants for domestic violence organizations across the country. Verizon has also distributed nearly 123,000 HopeLine phones with the equivalent of more than 406 million minutes of wireless service for use by victims, survivors and organizations.

"First Lady Bentley has been a tremendous collaborator this year and has helped us dramatically increase our phone collections in Alabama, which will create more resources for us to give back to domestic violence organizations in our communities," said Jonathan LeCompte, president – Georgia/Alabama region, Verizon Wireless.

For more information about how to donate to HopeLine, go to verizonwireless.com/hopeline or visit a Verizon store today. Donations are accepted year-round. During the holiday season and the "A Call for Hope" drive, donation boxes will also be available at police headquarters in Birmingham, Huntsville and Montgomery.

Local businesses and organizations can get involved by requesting a HopeLine donation box for their offices. Send requests to [email protected].

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves nearly 96 million retail customers, including 90.4 million retail postpaid customers.  Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 75,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD).  For more information, visit 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