It’s been twenty years since I was in high school. While I definitely do not remember everything that I learned in my classes, there were experiences that have stuck with me to this day. Living at home with both of my parents and seeing my extended family in their homes, all the time left me naïve. I was clueless about domestic violence. I knew there were people living in the Capital Region that were homeless. What I didn’t get prior to this time was that many were women and children that had left homes where they were being abused.
I still remember sitting in Key Club after school when a woman from Equinox Domestic Violence Services came to chat with us. She wanted our group to help them in whatever way we felt comfortable. We could donate money from a fundraiser, go and help to cook for their big Thanksgiving dinner, or get donations for the kids that were in their shelters and transitional housing. We did several different things for Equinox over the years that I was in Key Club as a member and president. Teens at our urban high school were helping others in our community that needed love, security, and people that they could trust. It felt good to do whatever we could.
Flash forward to the present day. NHL is getting ready to have his Bar Mitzvah in less than a year. He will need to do a project to help others in our community. Thanks to all of the news stories about Domestic Violence Awareness Month this October, I would love to get him to work with Equinox. He is a sweet and naïve twelve year old that adores helping others. I know that if I can present information to him about the cause that it may be something he would like to do, not simply because he has to.
As always, if you know someone or need help from an abusive relationship please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE or #HOPE on your Verizon Wireless phone.
If you would like to help those in need, Verizon has made it easy. Please consider donating phones that you are not using to HopeLine from Verizon where they will get the refurbished devices with 3,000 minutes and texting to survivors of domestic violence that are with participating domestic violence agencies. Verizon has a goal of collecting one million phones by the end of 2015. FYI, Hopeline accepts wireless phones, chargers, and accessories from any carrier.
In addition to this, Verizon Wireless will be selling purple HopeLine accessories. $1 from each will be donated from the sale and up to $100,000 will be donated to the National Violence Hotline.
Have you ever donated a phone to HopeLine or volunteered to help a Domestic Violence charity? Please share your experiences in the comments below.
Disclosure: As a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I receive devices to test out and share ways that I use it in my life. In addition to this, I share programs like HopeLine because I believe in how they help people in need. I am a long time Verizon customer, and all opinions are my own.
