As our web site says (http://www.capinc.org/capfone.htm) "In the time that it takes you to read this page, a victim of domestic violence will be assaulted by their partner! If that makes you sad or angry, read on."

We discovered a consortium of groups including Motorola, the Coalition for Domestic Violence and the Wireless Foundation that have a program where we gather donated cellphones and turn them in for reprogramming. These phones are then made available, with donated airtime, to local police departments, shelters and other agencies that help protect victims and potential victims of domestic violence.

We have collected over 1,000 phones for reprogramming and reuse and can only imagine the atrocities that may have been prevented because of them.

This is an easily duplicated program (as you will see in the How submission) that has great potential value.

How we will use award money:
We have had requests from several businesses to be drop-off locations for the program. We need to make it easy for donors to drop off - not all can/want to come downtown. With Jerry Award funds we could purchase the approved boxes, signage and receipts from the Foundation. We also need to ship the phones and accessories to Michigan which can be expensive (heavy boxes!). Any additional funds would be used for the promotion and supplies needed to continue and expand this valuable project.

HOW we do what we do
The national DONATE A PHONE® CALL TO PROTECT® campaign collects wireless phones to benefits victims of domestic violence. In the hands of a victims, these phones are a lifeline enabling them to call for assistance when faced with an emergency situation. Any user group and certainly any community service project can add this important feature to their volunteer work. Step 1 is to get information (including How to Donate Information, Tax Receipt forms and other information) from the Call to Protect web site at http://www.wirelessfoundation.org/CalltoProtect/index.cfm

Because CAP was already a dropoff point for computers and peripheral, it made sense to set up a box and print some flyers promoting the cell phone program. We publicized it in the newsletter, on the web, via e-mail and received publicity in the local newspaper, magazines and from some women's groups.

It seems that everyone has an old cell phone that they don't want to throw out but is of no use to them. They gladly donate the phones once they hear about the program.

We assure them that the phones are "wiped" but of course instruct them to cancel accounts before donating - just in case.

The Call to protect web site has all the necessary info to get started.