Verizon Employees Spread Easter Cheer to Greenville Children Through United Way’s Be-a-Bunny
March 23, 2015
The program places an Easter basket packed with treats in the hands of a child affected by domestic violence.
GREENVILLE, SC— Employees at Verizon’s Greenville headquarters came together this week to stuff Easter baskets as part of the United Way of Greenville’s Be-a-Bunny program. Verizon, a sponsor of Be-a-Bunny, adopted 25 children this year from local domestic violence agency Safe Harbor. Each child will receive their own basket loaded with a variety of items all designed to bring them joy, including candy, stuffed animals, new books and school supplies. The kids will receive the baskets during Easter week.
“The Be-a-Bunny program is a great example of how the community of Greenville comes together to lift the spirits of children in need,” said Lindsey Jones, program coordinator for Verizon Wireless. “We chose to adopt children from Safe Harbor because domestic violence prevention is an issue we are passionate about at Verizon. We want to do our part to help bring a degree of normalcy and joy to these children—to let them know we care about them.”
“We thank Verizon for continuing to be such a strong partner,” said Becky Callaham, executive director for Safe Harbor. “Community support through programs such as Be-a-Bunny is such an important component in helping us achieve our mission to serve survivors of domestic violence and their children each and every day. Seeing an Easter basket put a smile on a child’s face is so special for all of us here.”
Domestic violence prevention is an important issue for Verizon. In addition to volunteer initiatives with domestic violence agencies, the company founded the HopeLine program in 2001 to convert no-longer used cell phones into support for victims of domestic violence. Devices that can be refurbished become lifelines for women escaping violent relationships. The company also recycles wireless devices, chargers and batteries that cannot be refurbished in an environmentally friendly way and uses the proceeds to fund domestic violence prevention efforts. The community can donate wireless devices to HopeLine by dropping them off at any Verizon Wireless location or by downloading a postage-paid label at VerizonWireless.com/HopeLine.
