Domestic violence victims receive donated phones

• Reprints

Updated: February 14, 2012 9:02PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Verizon Wireless reports that Indiana residents donated more than 18,000 cellphones to victims of domestic violence last year.

Regional President John Granby said Monday that’s a 23 percent increase for Verizon’s HopeLine program over a year earlier. He also says Indiana residents donated more than 2.7 million minutes of airtime.

Granby says domestic violence victims often rely on donated cellphones so they can stay in touch with important contacts while they work to rebuild their lives.

Since the national recycling program began in 2001, HopeLine has collected more than 9 million phones nationwide.