Old cell phones being collected on campus for Project HopeLine

Have a cell phone you're not using any more? Verizon Wireless is conducting a national campaign to collect those old phones, and drop boxes are set up throughout the Western Washington University campus.

Verizon will reprogram each phone with 3,000 minutes and phone numbers for 911 and the national domestic violence hotline. The company then will distribute the phones to domestic violence organizations to pass on to victims who need a phone for their safety.

Collection boxes are located in the Student Life Office (Viking Union Room 506), outside Old Main Room 563 and in the lobby of the Campus Services Building. Old phones and chargers also can be sent via campus mail to mail stop 9105.

As part of this campaign, Verizon is offering a reward to the county that collects the most cell phones. The county with the most cell phones collected will win $10,000 for domestic violence victim services and will be nationally recognized at a ceremony in San Diego.

Collection continues through the end of June.

For more information, visit the website of the Bellingham-Whatcom County Commission Against Domestic Violence.