ECU cell phone drive assists Family Violence Center
Used phones, batteries, chargers and other accessories can be dropped off anytime at the main collection site, 1704 B Arlington Blvd. On-campus collections will be held once a month at Wright Plaza, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 27, Sept. 24, Oct. 29 and Nov. 19.
Dawn Gibbs, a paralegal in Student Legal Services, organized last year’s drive, which resulted in more than 327 phones and a lot of accessories being collected.
Gibbs hopes to surpass that number this year. “Hopefully, we can collect more, but if we meet last year’s amount, that would be good as well. Because of the economic crisis, the Family Violence Center has lost a lot of funding, so every penny helps,” she said.
Cell phone companies make a small, monetary donation to the center for each phone that can’t be reused. Working cell phones are activated to make 911 calls only. The Family Violence Program then loans these phones to victims of domestic violence for emergency use.
“This is a nice, easy way to keep the phones out of the landfill and help out people in need,” Gibbs said.
For more information about the drive, contact Gibbs at 737-1067 or e-mail gibbsmi@ecu.edu.