Cell Phone Donations

[Darla]

I came across an interesting poster in my doctors office. It was a poster about domestic abuse. Basically, local centers are accepting cell phone donations to help prevent to abuse of spouses. I researched on some articles and am posting a couple of them here because this would be the right place for it. If you are willing to help out, please contact your local offices to find out how you can help.
Call Put Out for Cell Phone Donations

Cell Phone Donations Could Help Save Lives of Abuse Victims

Call to Protect

How to Donate

So if you can bare to take that old phone thats lying around collecting dust and donate it that would be great!!!

[Mr. Rude]

A worthy cause........Let's help out.........Make a name for HOFO............Give up your decrepit phones for a worthy cause............They're just gonna collect dust anyways........Cough one up ya skinflint! ........I will

[Mr. Rude]

or ten.........(cough)..........adjust necktie nervously.....

[Darla]

Forgot about this one. Maybe we can Howard involved.Donate A Phone

[Mr. Rude]

I concur.....I'll do what I can in the Great White North.........We have the same situations up here...................Again, a most noble cause!...............My mom coulda used one 25 years ago
Not trying to be morose, but there are situations that need to be corrected
http://www.wirelessfoundation.org/12give/index2.cfm
P.S. you should PM Howard, he'll listen to you WAAAYYYYYY before me. My intentions are the same as yours, but if we can get only a small % of HOFO members to help...............Who knows...

[100thMonkey]

we can include the old Nokia 5160i on this list...this was the first phone that I text messaged on :-)

[sid pearlman]

After reading those articles about women gaining protection from attack by carrying 911 phones. Staying safe in a house or car and then calling 911 might be a more appropriate use.
Dialling 911 is not going to stop an attacker. In most cases the police would arrive too late and it's going to take some time to give the location to the E911 operator. It would be better to carry mace (or something stronger).

Might want to research what percentage of funds generated reaches the intended group. Selling that phone for $15 or less and writing a check to the local Women's Shelter may benefit those in need more. Properly recycling the toxic components is another valid reason for donation.

The phone donation system relies upon simplicity, feeling good and a tax break, but as with all non profits there is a "foundation" to support.

Ever wonder what happens to donated cellular handsets and which groups benefit? This editorial sheds some light on handset donation and recycling.
-
SID

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...9/BU140937.DTL

ALTERNATIVES
"If you don't agree with me about that, but still want to do something constructive with your old phone(s), there are several alternatives that in one way or another promise benefits to good causes. Verizon Wireless and Sprint have such programs, and the Wireless Foundation, an offshoot of the cellular industry's trade association, runs several.

But if I have some qualms about CollectiveGood, I have even more about these carrier-sponsored efforts. For example, the Sprint program (developed in conjunction with the Wireless Foundation) resells the phones it collects. But according to its Web site, the charities it supports -- Easter Seals and the National Organization on Disability -- get only 35 percent of the resale value.
And while the Wireless Foundation calls its collection programs "Donate a Phone" and trumpets one program that provides phones to victims of domestic abuse, it has actually donated only 48,677 phones, according to its Web site, out of 1.4 million it has collected. (And most of those are programmed so they can be used only to call 911 and perhaps one other number.)
Of the rest, according to David Diggs, the foundation's executive director, about 30 percent are recycled and the rest are resold to cover costs, with any net proceeds split between charity and the foundation itself.
In fact, CollectiveGood's Heine charged that "the Wireless Foundation is deceiving well-intended Americans to participate in their programs, making millions of dollars in the process, and keeping the winnings for themselves."
Heine is in a sense a competitor, and therefore not an unbiased observer, but from what I can determine he may be on to something."

NEW HOMES FOR OLD PHONES
-- CollectiveGood
http://www.collectivegood.com
Independent program pays nonprofits for each mobile phone collected, recycles unusable gear, sells working phones to Latin American carriers. Donors can choose among 150 nonprofits, many of which cover cost of shipping. .

-- Donate a Phone
http://www.donateaphone.com
Family of programs -- some for individual donors, others for organizations and carriers -- managed by the CTIA Wireless Foundation, an arm of the cellular industry's trade association. Call to Protect program donates limited- function phones to victims of domestic violence. .

-- Sprint Project Connect
http://www.sprintpcs.com/projectconnect
Program run by Wireless Foundation collects phones at Sprint PCS stores, recycles some and sells others, donates 35 percent of resale value to Easter Seals and the National Organization on Disability. .

-- Verizon Wireless HopeLine
http://www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline
Company-run mail-in collection program recycles or sells phones, uses proceeds to purchase phones and donate airtime to victims of domestic violence through human-services and law-enforcement agencies. .

-- RadioShack Donate a Phone
http://www.radioshackcorporation.com/cr/support.shtml
Program run by Wireless Foundation will collect phones at RadioShack stores through Dec. 31, and donate proceeds to an organization for college students called Students in Free Enterprise. .

[vermontcellboy]

I donated a v120c and a v2260c to www.collectivegood.com namely the AIrline Ambassadors' Association.

[guiseppewv]

These are great programs to keep people from throwing away their phones.

[vermontcellboy]

I've donated a Motorola v2260 and a v120c to CollectiveGood
I'm very upset that because I have not very good handwriting they didn't send me a thank you letter.
That's just arrogant!
I mean, I would have sold that 120c on ebay and gotten good money.
-AG

[UrbanPoet]

do you think they could even use 2 of my old skool Nokia 5190's???

[walkguru]

yes it is a good cause.

[AC87]

I have motorolla c330 if you would want it for donation i dont use it

[nokiaman76]

Its a great cuase i turn in my old cell phones to verizon who gives them too to the battered women.

[avexus]

hi