Verizon Wireless Invites You to Attend the Topsfield Fair for Free

TOPSFIELD, Mass., Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, a corporate leader in domestic violence prevention, is recognizing October -- Domestic Violence Awareness Month -- by inviting you to attend the Topsfield Fair for free. Verizon Wireless representatives will be at the Main Gate of the Fair on Saturday, October 7th, Sunday, October 8th, and Monday, October 9th (Columbus Day) to collect no-longer-used wireless phones for the company's HopeLine(R) program. Everyone donating a no-longer-used wireless phone will receive free admission to the fair. The Verizon Wireless HopeLine program accepts all wireless phones, any make and model, from any carrier, even ones that are old, or broken.

"We are proud of our long-standing commitment of supporting organizations that work with domestic violence survivors," said Bob Stott, New England Region president, Verizon Wireless. "Our phone collection at the Topsfield Fair will provide domestic violence survivors with the wireless phones they need to begin the life-rebuilding process while the person making the donation gets to go America's oldest fair for free."

Phones in good working order will be refurbished at a clearing house and returned to Verizon Wireless for distribution to organizations assisting survivors of domestic violence. If the phone cannot be refurbished, or if it is not compatible with the Verizon Wireless network, the clearing house sells it. With the funds raised from the sale of the refurbished phones, Verizon Wireless then purchases wireless phones and donates airtime to human services and law enforcement agencies working with survivors of domestic violence. An added benefit is that no-longer-usable phones and batteries are recycled in an environmentally-friendly manner.

In addition to being at the Main Gate on October 7-9th (10:00am-10:00pm) collecting no-longer-used wireless phones, Verizon Wireless will have a booth at Coolidge Hall where representatives will be on hand to demonstrate the latest wireless phones, including the Chocolate, a company exclusive, and the MotoKRZR, as well as answer attendees' wireless questions.

If you can't make it to the fair from October 7-9th to donate your phone and get free admission, you can bring your old handset to any Verizon Wireless Communications Store year round to donate it to the HopeLine program and help domestic violence survivors.

Since 2001, consumers have donated more than 3 million phones to HopeLine and more than 600,000 phones have been recycled. Verizon Wireless has distributed nearly $10 million in cash and in-kind services to domestic violence prevention and awareness programs across the country. For more information on Verizon Wireless' HopeLine program or for instructions on donating a wireless phone, visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 54.8 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at http://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 http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.