Hampden DA collects cell phones
JOHN CUNNINGHAM
Intern
SPRINGFIELD – In a world where many women and children continue to suffer abuse in seemingly inescapable relationships, one campaign hopes to help.
The office of District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni has made several steps in the fight against domestic abuse, an ongoing problem in the County. Starting the first week of February, the office had teamed up with Shelter Alliance, an organization dedicated to recycling cell phones. Both groups have reached out to the public for donations of used or broken phones, to either be recycled or given to abuse victims, so they can contact emergency help.
Mastroianni spokesperson, Ronda Wright, shed some light on the D.A’s campaign.
“It was all Mr. Mastroianni’s idea,” she says, “and he was inspired by Middlesex County, where a similar campaign was created, but on a smaller scale.”
The campaign in Middlesex County involved local police stations putting aside the phones they requisitioned, and donating them to local women who suffer from domestic abuse. Mastroianni expanded on that idea, appealing to the public to donate the phones they no longer use, at various locations throughout Hampden County.
The phones that are not re-useable will be recycled by Shelter Alliance, with the recycling value of each phone (usually within the $2-10 range, but can be up to $30-100) being returned to the D.A’s office. The money received will then be donated to various local shelters, providing the means for women to purchase pre-paid phones for temporary use.
The donation drive has been successful, according to Wright.
“We’ve received a few hundred phones so far, and we’ll count the final amount when the drive closes,” she said. The drive closes today.
District Courts involved in the program are located in Chicopee, Holyoke (both District and Juvenile), Westfield, Palmer and Springfield.
