Published: July 10, 2007 10:16 pm      

Benefit seniors, victims of violence

Donate old phones

If you’re planning on upgrading your Motorola Razr to the new Apple iPhone or you have a pile of outdated cellulars in your junk drawer, don’t throw them in the trash.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Department is partnering with a national company — 911 Cell Phone Bank — to recycle old phones for the benefit of violence victims and seniors.

“What we do at the 911 Cell Phone Bank is we take all phones,” said James P. Mosieur, director of 911 Cell Phone Bank. “Some of the phones cannot be refurbished, but if the county turns in, lets say, 10 phones, they get credit for 10 phones in their emergency cell phone bank. Those phones they turn in are not necessarily the ones they get back. The ones they get back have been refurbished and cleaned. We make sure they work with accessories and have instructions.

“It’s like a new phone, only it’s not a new one.”

911 Cell Phone Bank is a non-profit, nationwide organization. The phones the department receives in return for the donated phones are designed only to dial 911 for emergencies.

“There was one situation not too long ago in Michigan that an elderly lady was mugged in an alley and she had her 911 cell phone,” Mosieur said. “Although it doesn’t call anybody else, it can help in times of need like that. She was able to get somebody to come into the alley and relieve her fear within a few minutes.”

Madison County Sheriff’s Col. Ed Robinson said he received a call from the company asking if the department would be interested in participating in the program.

“We said that we would be glad to participate,” Robinson said. “As a matter of fact, I have some here some of the deputies are going to turn in.”

Having phones available to give to victims of violence, battered women or seniors in the community sounded like something that would come in handy, Robinson said. Once the department receives the phones back from 911 Cell Phone Bank, they are able to use their own discretion to distribute them to those in need in the community.

“It wouldn’t be something they could just turn around and use at their whim,” he said. “The way it is set up, it would have to be used for what it is intended for.”

Once the phones are received, Mosieur said they are wiped clean of all personal information before they are re-distributed. The company does not need accessories such as chargers, ear pieces and boxes with donated phones, Mosieur said.

“The only thing we really send back are the batteries and the cell phone,” he said.

In addition to receiving the refurbished phones, the department also will receive cash for high-dollar phones and (phones) that are unable to be refurbished, Mosieur said.

“We find that communities are more than willing to help by simply donating a used cell phone that they aren’t using anyway,” Mosieur said.

More than 500 law enforcement, victim advocate agencies and general businesses are participating in the program, according to the company’s Web site. Nearly 39,000 cell phones have been donated nationwide and about $482,000 has been generated.

The Berea Police Department has been participating in the program for about three years, said BPD Capt. Ken Clark.

“We get quite a few phones donated,” Clark said. “We haven’t handed a lot of them out. We do so every opportunity we get, but all in all, I think it’s a successful program. It’s one of those community service type things that whether you hand out one or hand out 100, just having the ability to do it means a lot.”

The Berea Police Department has been pleased with the service they have received from the 911 Cell Phone Bank, Clark said, and have had no concerns about anyone misusing the program to acquire personal information.

“I have not heard of any instances since we’ve been doing it,” Clark said. “We’ve not had any complaints or problems. We probably don’t turn in as many phones as some people do, but they treat us very nice and they’re constantly in touch with us to see if we need anything.”

Phones can be taken to the sheriff’s department at 135 W. Irvine St., Suite B-01, Richmond, or to the Berea department at 304 Chestnut St.

Anyone interested in learning more information about 911 Cell Phone Bank can visit the company’s Web site at www.911cellphonebank.org.

Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.