Verizon presents grant to "End Domestic Abuse WI," Packers collecting no-longer-used wireless phones

GREEN BAY (WITI) -- Verizon Wireless presented a $100,000 HopeLine grant to End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin on Tuesday, October 7th at the Wise Women Gathering Place in Green Bay, while also announcing the continuation of “Protection is the Name of the Game,” -- its long-running HopeLine collection with the Green Bay Packers.

The $100,000 grant from HopeLine will be used to further expand End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin’s work addressing teen dating violence across Wisconsin. As part of the statewide coalition for local domestic violence service providers, End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin supports the work of more than 75 local programs. That includes Wise Women Gathering Place in Green Bay, which serves more than 50 middle and high school students from the Oneida Nation community with after-school programming each week. In Wisconsin, local domestic violence service providers are critical to providing outreach to teens to stop violence before it happens.

“We are so grateful that Verizon Wireless is investing in this issue of domestic violence,” said Alice Skenandore, executive director, Wise Women Gathering Place. “Wise Women Gathering Place is also grateful for our ongoing relationship with End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin and the support they have provided over the past years.”

According to End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin, teen dating violence is more common than most realize. Eighty-one percent of parents don’t believe it is an issue in the lives of their teens, yet one in three adolescents will be affected by dating violence and 1.5 million high-school aged teens experience some form of physical violence from a dating partner each year. Furthermore, violent behavior typically begins between the ages of 12 and 18.

“Educating youth and teens about healthy relationships is essential to preventing violence from happening in the first place,” said Patti Seger, executive director, End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin. “If we fail to prevent domestic violence today amongst our young people, a certain percentage of them will be the victims of tomorrow.”

Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews joined leadership from the three organizations to encourage Packers fans to participate in the 2014 continuation of the Green Bay Packers “Protection is the Name of the Game” partnership with Verizon.

All fans are encouraged to donate their no-longer-used wireless phones at special collection stations located around Lambeau Field before the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears on Sunday night, November 9th. All donations go directly to HopeLine from Verizon, to provide funding for organizations like End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin and the Wise Women Gathering Place. These funds help the organizations continue serving survivors of domestic abuse and educating children and young adults to make decisions and develop relationships based on respect.

“Domestic violence is a silent epidemic that has a widespread impact on the community,” said Brian Pascoe, region president for Verizon Wireless. “Together, we have an opportunity to lead and take a stand that will make a difference. Packers fans have always joined us in supporting the HopeLine program, and we have no doubt they will continue to stand with us and the organizations who serve our community.”

Additionally, for the second consecutive year, Verizon is partnering with Bellin Health locations in northeast Wisconsin to set up HopeLine collection stations. Those not attending the game at Lambeau Field may still participate by donating their no-longer-used wireless phones at Bellin Health and Verizon Wireless locations through the month of October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. And, throughout the year devices are accepted in stores, as well as in the Atrium (near Guest Services desk) at Lambeau Field.

Verizon is committed to helping the nearly one in four women, one in seven men and more than 3 million children in the United States affected by domestic violence each year. Through its HopeLine program, Verizon has donated more than 180,000 phone to survivors of domestic violence, and awarded more than $21 million in cash grants to its partner agencies.