Phone donations a good call

Eric C Sanitate

Newport Beach-based Pacific Life is one of several local companies

enlisted to help in a crusade to donate cellular phones to residents of

battered women shelters.

Soroptimist International of Irvine is spearheading the effort to bring

the national “Call to Protect” program to Orange County.

The chapter will be working in conjunction with Verizon Wireless, the

Irvine-based cellular communications provider. Verizon will repair and

reprogram the phones before they are distributed to Human Options in

Irvine and Laura’s House in San Clemente.

The Huntington Beach chapter of Soroptimist is running a similar program

to benefit Seal Beach’s Interval House shelter.

“To show how deep our roots run, a member of Soroptimist International

was instrumental in the development of each of these three shelters.

That’s part of what we’re about,” said Pat Jackson-Colando, chapter

president.

She said the organization will spend the next two months collecting old

cell phones that will be reprogrammed to dial 911 and the number of the

new owner’s domestic violence shelter.

Local organizers, who have collected 150 phones so far, hope to round up

400 wireless phones with or without battery packs before Aug. 1.

Pacific Life and the Irvine-based law firm of Gibson, Crutcher and Dunn

are among the companies that have agreed to solicit cell phone donations

from their employees.

“There’s no such thing as too many,” Jackson-Colando said. “If we get

more than 400 phones ... we can send them to the central collection place

in Indiana for the nationwide program.”

For more information or to make a donation, call (949) 854-0605 or log on

to o7 www.donateaphone.comf7 .