Verizon Employees at 35 Locations Donate More Than $22,000 Worth of Household Items to Local Domestic Violence Shelters Across California

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon employees at 35 locations donated more than $22,000 worth of essential household items to 16 domestic violence shelters throughout California during a recent 12-day Shower for the Shelter drive.

Nationally, 306 Verizon locations participated in the companywide effort to collect personal care products, clothing and other household items for local domestic violence shelters.  In all, more than 185 shelters across the country benefited from the drive. The public also participated in the campaign, making tax deductible online contributions to the National Network to End Domestic Violence at www.nnedv.org/verizon.

Since its launch in 2007, the annual Shower for the Shelter drive has collected more than $1.3 million in items for domestic violence shelters.

The California shelters that benefited from the drive are:

• Emergency Shelter Program, Hayward.
• Women Shelter of Long Beach.
• Interval House, Long Beach and Orange County.
• Su Casa ~ Ending Domestic Violence, Long Beach.
• Haven Hills Inc., Canoga Park.
• Lighthouse Women & Children's Mission, Oxnard.
• House of Ruth, Claremont.
• Shelter from the Storm Inc., Palm Desert.
• La Casa de las Madres, San Francisco.
• Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, San Jose.
• Southern California Alcohol and Drug Programs Inc., Downey.
• Victor Valley Domestic Violence, Victorville.
• Human Response Network, Weaverville.
• Berkeley Food & Housing Project, Berkeley.
• STAND! Against Domestic Violence, Concord.
• Domestic Violence Intervention Center, Citrus Heights.

Carol Williams, executive director of Interval House, said: "Verizon has long been a leader in the support of domestic abuse survivors, and we are extremely grateful for their contributions through the Shower to Shelter Program."

The donated household items were distributed to local domestic violence shelters in the communities where the items were collected. Money collected through online donations will be distributed to shelters throughout the country by the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

"The annual Shower for the Shelter campaign is one just way that Verizon provides critical support for domestic violence survivors," said Gene Eng, Verizon vice president of strategic programs. "The campaign helps us raise awareness of this important issue."

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its free educational website, Verizon Thinkfinity (www.thinkfinity.org), and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence.  In 2009, the Verizon Foundation awarded $67.9 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the U.S. and abroad.  It also matched the charitable donations of Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in $26.1 million in combined contributions to nonprofits.  Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation's largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered more than 5 million hours of community service since 2000. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizonfoundation.org.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 92 million customers nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon last year generated consolidated revenues of more than $107 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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SOURCE Verizon