Verizon Commits $100,000 Grant and Enlists Employees, Customers to Assist Typhoon Victims in the Philippines

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Nov. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon is calling on its employees and customers to join in assisting the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated a wide area of the central Philippines. Verizon has committed a $100,000 grant to the American Red Cross Philippines Typhoon Appeal Fund to support disaster relief in the area, and the Verizon Foundation will match Verizon employees' donations of $25 or more, up to $1,000 per employee, to Save the Children.   

Verizon will also waive charges for long-distance calls and text messages to the Philippines from Nov. 8 through Dec. 7 to support its customers who are trying to communicate with their families and friends.

All calls made from a Verizon residential landline to the Philippines will be rated at $0.00 per minute, from Nov. 8 through Dec. 7. Customers with Verizon World Plan (300 or 500 minutes of international calling) can call the Philippines without using any minutes from their time-allotment blocks.*

All Verizon Wireless post-paid customers will also receive free calling to the Philippines from Nov. 8 through Dec. 7 as well as free text and multimedia messaging to the Philippines for the same time period. Post-paid customers are those who receive a monthly bill from the company.

Verizon Wireless has activated its text-to-donate program, allowing its U.S. customers to make a $10 donation to any of the following organizations:

• Text RELIEF to 25383 to give to Catholic Relief Services
• Text AID to 80077 to give to HOPE Worldwide
• Text AID to 50555 to give to Operation USA
• Text DONATE to 20222 to give to Save the Children
• Text RELIEF to 864233 to give to UNICEF
• Text AID to 27722 to give to World Food Program USA
• Text HOPE to 777444 to give to WORLD VISION

Text-messaging fees will be waived and 100 percent of each donation goes directly to the nonprofit organization. Verizon Wireless postpaid customers will see their donations on their next regular monthly bill. For customers using the company's prepaid services, donations will be deducted from their prepaid balances.

"Typhoon Haiyan is one of the worst natural disasters the Philippine people have ever experienced, and the need for support and relief is immediate and immense," said Rose Stuckey Kirk, Verizon vice president of global corporate social responsibility and president of the Verizon Foundation. "With operations around the world, Verizon and its employees run to crises such as Haiyan, and we're committed to helping citizens of Tacloban and other communities as they begin to recover from this devastating storm."

* Only per minute usage charges for such calls will be waived.  All other fees including taxes, surcharges, monthly recurring charges (MRCs), minimum spend levels (MSLs), monthly minimum charges (MMCs), etc will continue to apply. If waived charges appear on a customer bill, credits will be issued in a future billing statement.

About the Verizon Foundation
The Verizon Foundation helps people to live healthy, safe and independent lives by addressing disparities in education, healthcare and sustainability. Since 2000, the Verizon Foundation has invested more than half a billion dollars to improve the communities where Verizon employees work and live.  Verizon's employees are generous with their donations and their time, having logged more than 6.8 million hours of service to make a positive difference in their communities. For more information, visit www.verizonfoundation.org. 

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with more than 101 million retail connections nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries. A Dow 30 company with nearly $116 billion in 2012 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 178,300.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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SOURCE Verizon