Virgin Mobile USA to Partner with 1MillionProject, Help Connect Students to Succeed in School

KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Mobile® USA announced today that is excited to support the mission of the 1Million Project — to help 1 million high school students who do not have reliable internet access at home reach their full potential by giving them free mobile devices and high-speed wireless internet connectivity. As part of the Virgin Group of companies, the mobile provider shares a common purpose of changing business for good and its support of the 1Million Project will be a core campaign.

"As a Virgin company, we're part of a long history of giving back, so we're committed to continuing that tradition and finding new ways to make a difference," said Doug Smith, chief operating officer and general manager of Virgin Mobile. "Our customers value social good, so by teaming up with Virgin Mobile and the 1Million Project, they can help change a life and give their hearts a voice."

An estimated 5 million U.S. families with school-age children do not have home internet access, while seven in 10 teachers assign online homework. The 1Million Project works to eliminate the "Homework Gap" that puts these students at a major disadvantage because they don´t have equitable access to the internet, a critical tool needed to complete homework, communicate with teachers or apply for jobs, scholarships or college.

"The 1Million Project relies on the generous support of outside partners and consumers," said Doug Michelman, president of the 1Million Project Foundation. "Our only barrier to helping students is the number of devices that we can secure — either by receiving financial support or having them donated by the people Sprint does business with in the industry. This is why Virgin Mobile's support, our partnerships with device manufacturers and donations from customers are so important, as they help the 1Million Project provide more devices, sooner, to hardworking, deserving students."

Beginning Monday, April 2, Virgin Mobile customers can help eliminate the Homework Gap by donating wireless phones they no longer use.¹ All makes and models are accepted, regardless of the carrier or condition. The net proceeds from reselling or recycling a donated phone will be used to provide new devices to eligible high school students.

Additionally, for every device donated by Virgin Mobile customers, the company will donate $5 to the 1Million Project Foundation, up to $100,000, through March 31, 2019. Customers are encouraged to post a photo of their phones, tag Virgin Mobile and use #1MillionProject on social media when shipping their phones to the 1Million Project.

"Virgin Mobile customers care about a lot of causes, but this one is directly related to their mobile device usage," said Smith. "Just as they fueled our meal donations to Feeding America last year, I expect our customers to generate many device donations for students in need."

For the past year, Virgin Mobile generated the donation of more than 1 million meals to Feeding America®, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, through new customers, holiday promotions and use of the #DonateMyPlate hashtag. Feeding America's network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries provide food and groceries to more than 46 million people.

The organization received the support of 10 meals from Virgin Mobile for every person who signed up with the caring mobile carrier. Additionally, Virgin Mobile increased its donation during the holiday season, fueling the donation of 1 million meals to Feeding America.

"Virgin Mobile USA wins my heart because of their charitable work, support and actions," said Kim C., a Virgin Mobile customer in Ohio.

The 1Million Project is a 1Million Project Foundation initiative with support from Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), which powers Virgin Mobile's wireless service on Sprint's nationwide 4G LTE network. The Sprint network offers overall network reliability that beats T-Mobile and performs within one percent of Verizon and AT&T. ² In addition, Sprint's national average download speed is up 60 percent year-over-year according to Ookla Speedtest Intelligence data.³ In 2018, Sprint is dramatically increasing its network investment to further improve coverage, reliability and speed for its millions of customers.

About Virgin Mobile USA
Renowned for providing unique and exceptional customer experience in diverse industries, Virgin is one of the most desirable brands in the world. We're constantly working to meet that standard and that's why, at Virgin Mobile USA, we do mobile differently. We connect people to the things that matter in life while changing the way our Members experience mobile. Virgin Mobile is the first iPhone-only carrier in the United States, offering one simple plan with unlimited everything (even high-speed data) for only $50 per month. We make it easy to switch with our groundbreaking introductory rate of just $1 per month for the first six months. Buy a new or "Pre-Loved" iPhone or bring your own, then transfer your number and test drive Virgin Mobile for only $1 per month. For more information, please visit VirginMobileUSA.com.

About the 1Million Project Foundation
The 1Million Project Foundation will help 1 million high school students who do not have reliable Internet access at home reach their full potential by giving them mobile devices and free high-speed Internet access. Today's learning environment requires 24/7 internet access in order to study, learn, explore and complete school work from home. Students that cannot connect when they leave school are at a disadvantage, and their chances of staying on track in school are greatly limited. By working with school districts across America, the 1Million Project seeks to remove a significant hurdle in these students' lives by ensuring they have the same access to the internet as any other student so that they too have a fair shot at achieving their full potential. For more information, visit www.1MillionProject.org.  

1Million Project: Donations are non-refundable. The 1Million Project Foundation is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Federal Tax ID 82-2640564. The 1Million Project Foundation will use donations to support the 1Million Project, which may include purchasing new devices (smartphones, tablets, hotspots), providing educational resources, administering the program and funding program training for eligible high school students. The 1Million Project Foundation is a separate legal entity from Sprint. Cash donations to the 1Million Project Foundation are tax deductible. Feeding America: $1 helps provide 11 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local member food banks. Virgin Mobile has committed to contribute a minimum of 1,650,000 meals (monetary equivalent of $150,000), with a maximum of 2,750,000 meals (monetary equivalent of $250,000) to Feeding America and member food banks from 06/20/17-03/31/18.
 ¹ No purchase required.  ² Average network reliability (voice and data) based on Sprint's analysis of Nielsen drive test data in the top 106 metro markets; latest drives completed from August to December 2017. ³ Average download speed increase based on Ookla's analysis of Speedtest Intelligence data comparing December 2016 to December 2017 for all mobile results.

SOURCE Virgin Mobile USA

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