Individual Contributions Made by Text Messaging Will Support Save the
Children Programs in China and Myanmar
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., June 4 /PRNewswire/ -- In a show of support for
survivors of the natural disasters that occurred last month in China and
Myanmar, Verizon Wireless is enabling its customers across the United
States to join in the relief efforts by donating money to Save the
Children, an agency that implements programs focused on early childhood
health and development, child survival and child protection.
Beginning today, Verizon Wireless post-pay customers with phones
capable of text messaging can use those phones to donate to Save the
Children. To participate, customers can send a message to the address 4SAVE
(47283) with the key word "quake" to contribute to earthquake relief or the
key word "cyclone" to contribute to cyclone relief.
Texters will receive a reply message asking them to confirm a donation
to Save the Children of $5 for the designated program. To do so, customers
will press "Y" on their keypad and then send that message. Customers
wishing to donate more than once can send up to four additional text
messages to 4SAVE, for a total contribution of $25 to each effort.
The donations will appear on the customer's next monthly bill, and the
entire amount of each donation will be provided to Save the Children to be
used toward earthquake and cyclone relief and recovery efforts. Verizon
Wireless will not charge for messages sent to customers as part of this
program; however, standard text messaging rates will apply to messages
customers send, but the fees collected from those messages will be donated
by Verizon Wireless to Save the Children when the program is completed. The
program will end on July 31, 2008.
"Because Save the Children has been working in Myanmar and China for
more than a decade, we were positioned to respond to the immediate needs of
hundreds of thousands of families when the disasters struck," said Charles
MacCormack, president and chief executive officer of Save the Children.
"Our staff has been working tirelessly to provide food, water, and health
care supplies to the people affected by these emergencies, but there are
still many more who need help. We thank Verizon Wireless for their support
of our efforts and for giving their customers a way to help these
communities recover and rebuild."
"Verizon Wireless customers send and receive nearly 20 billion text
messages per month, and we're glad we've put this technology to use for
such an important cause," said Lowell McAdam, president and chief executive
officer of Verizon Wireless. "On behalf of everyone at Verizon Wireless,
we're happy to be able to facilitate the giving to help people in both
countries."
Donations to Save the Children under this program are tax deductible to
the extent allowed by law. For more information on Save the Children,
please visit http://www.savethechildren.org.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and
data network, serving 67.2 million customers. Headquartered in Basking
Ridge, N.J., with 69,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint
venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE:
VOD). For more information, go to: http://www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and
request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of
Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia
Library at http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
About Save the Children
Save the Children (http://www.savethechildren.org) is the leading independent
organization creating lasting change for children in need in the United
States and around the world. For more than 75 years, Save the Children has
been helping children survive and thrive by improving their health,
education and economic opportunities and, in times of acute crisis,
mobilizing rapid lifesaving assistance to help children recover from the
effects of war, conflict and natural disasters.
SOURCE Verizon Wireless
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Related links:
http://www.verizonwireless.com
http://www.savethechildren.org
http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia
CONTACT:
Debra Lewis of Verizon Wireless,
+1-908-559-7512, Debra.Lewis@verizonwireless.com; Wendy Christian
of Save the Children +1-203-221-3767, wchristian@savechildren.org
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