Verizon Employees in California Donate $23,000 Worth of Household Items to Domestic Violence Shelters / Collection of Items, in Conjunction With the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Is Part of a Companywide Effort

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifteen domestic violence shelters have received more than $23,000 worth of items donated by Verizon employees at 46 locations throughout California.

Employees in Verizon's landline, wireless and business divisions in California joined more than 1,200 volunteers at 485 Verizon locations across the country to participate in a 12-day Shower for the Shelter drive. Employees donated more than $450,000 worth of household and personal care items -- surpassing last year's total by approximately 10 percent.

"Verizon employees have a long history of giving back to their communities both through volunteerism and donations," said Elva Lima, Verizon vice president of strategic programs. "Organizing a Shower for the Shelter drive for domestic violence survivors is just one way our employees demonstrate their commitment to make a positive impact in their community."

Verizon partnered with the National Network to End Domestic Violence to coordinate the Shower for the Shelter donation efforts.

The California shelters that received donations are: -- Southern California Alcohol and Drug Program's Angel Step Inn in Los Angeles. -- Option House Inc. in San Bernardino. -- House of Ruth in Claremont. -- Jenesse Center Inc. in Los Angeles. -- Domestic Violence Center of Santa Clarita Valley. -- Interface Children Family Services in Camarillo. -- Su Casa - Ending Domestic Violence in Long Beach. -- Haven Hills Inc. in Canoga Park. -- Ocean Park Community Center in Santa Monica. -- High Desert Domestic Violence Program Inc. in Victorville. -- Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments in Fremont. -- My Sister's House Inc. in Sacramento. -- Human Options in Irvine. -- Plumas Rural Services - Domestic Violence Services in Quincy. -- Emergency Shelter Program Inc. in Hayward.

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its free educational Web site, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence. In 2008, the Verizon Foundation awarded more than $68 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the U.S. and abroad. It also matched the charitable donations of Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in an additional $26 million in combined contributions to nonprofits. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation's largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered more than 3 million hours of community service since 2000. For more information on the foundation, visit http://www.verizonfoundation.org/.

How to Make a Difference

Donating no-longer-used wireless phones to the Verizon Wireless HopeLine(R) program helps support survivors of domestic violence. The phones are recycled or refurbished and sold, with the proceeds used to award grants of phones, airtime and cash to nonprofit domestic violence agencies. Any Verizon Wireless Communications store will accept all makes and models of cell phones and accessories.

Since the October 2001 launch of HopeLine, Verizon Wireless has collected more than 5.6 million phones, preventing those phones from being deposited in landfills. HopeLine has also distributed more than 76,000 phones with more than 228 million minutes of free wireless service to victims of domestic violence and awarded cash grants of more than $6.3 million to organizations working to prevent and end domestic violence.

For additional information on Verizon Wireless' HopeLine program and store locations, visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.

Verizon Communications Inc. , headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 86 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations provide converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. Wireline also includes Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 237,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $97 billion. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com/.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at http://www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.

Verizon

CONTACT: Jesus Torres, [phone], [e-mail], or
Ken Muche, [phone], [e-mail]

Web Site: http://www.verizon.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html