Donate weapons in war on domestic abuse - cell phones

Do you have any old wireless telephones in your home that are going unused and collecting dust? By donating them, you may help save a life.<br><br>The Wireless Foundation and the National Coalition Against

Tuesday, March 21st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Do you have any old wireless telephones in your home that are going unused and collecting dust? By donating them, you may help save a life.

The Wireless Foundation and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence have launched a national Donate A Phone campaign.

They want to collect the used wireless phones to distribute to clients of battered women's shelters to help the women protect themselves from domestic abuse.

The phones would be reprogrammed to dial 911 or a crisis hotline at the touch of a button, say the campaign sponsors. They will be distributed to shelters all over the country, including facilities in Denton, Dallas and Tarrant counties.

The Family Place, a Dallas agency for domestic violence victims, has already received 50 phones, according to spokeswoman Kelly Strzinek.

"Right now, we are determining which clients are in the most dangerous situations and would need ... [the phones]," she says.

Sponsors say that so far, people have been eager to give up their unused phones.

Michael Evans, executive director of The Wireless Foundation, says his Washington, D.C., office has been inundated with donations, and thousands of viewers have called the offices of ABC-TV's Good Morning America after the campaign was featured in a segment that aired recently.

During the segment, they played a recording of a woman who escaped abuse by her husband when she called the police on one of the donated phones.

"She had her cell phone when her husband was about to abuse her," says GMA publicist Sonya McNair. "She ran into the bathroom and locked the door and called 911.

"The call seemed to diffuse the situation when he realized the police were going to come very soon."

At-risk individuals who may need to use a cell phone in an emergency situation should remember two things:
* When customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area call 911 on a cell phone, you must tell police your location, as local officers don't have the capability to tell precisely where a cell-phone call originates.
* Cell phones must be kept charged, so having a cell pack is a necessity.

Good Morning America is helping to support the phone drive by providing informational links on its Web site - ABCNews.com - and listing a GMA address as a place to send the phones.

More than 5,000 women in the United States become victims of domestic violence every day, says Mr. Evans, citing statistics from his co-sponsors.

The sponsors' goal is to collect at least 1 million phones, a fraction of the estimated 24 million wireless phones that are sitting inactive in homes and businesses.

Mr. Evans says that Dallas-area residents were among the first to get involved, thanks to the early participation of Rep. Pete Sessions of Dallas.

Mr. Sessions heard about the plans for the project last September when he and other members of Congress were approached to donate their inactive phones.

Mr. Sessions told his constituents about the program and set up collection bins at his Capitol Hill office.

"The response was overwhelming," says Carrie Langdon, his spokeswoman.

MAKING A DONATION

Anyone interested in donating a phone can visit the Web site www.donateaphone.com or call 1-888-901-SAFE. Good Morning America is receiving donations at GMA, Ansonia Station, P.O. Box 234071, New York NY 10023.