Verizon Wireless Celebrates Grand Opening With Donation To Local Battered Women's Program

Verizon Wireless Celebrates Grand Opening With Donation To Local Battered Women's Program

February 13, 2001

FT. COLLINS, CO

-

To mark the opening of its first retail store in Ft. Collins, Verizon Wireless presented a $2,500 donation to the Domestic Abuse Response Team, a program administered out of Crossroads Safehouse for Battered Women and Their Children in Larimer County. The donation was part of an all day celebration to mark the grand opening of the Verizon Wireless Communications Store located at 3636 S. College Avenue.

The new Communications Store, that created five full time and two part time jobs, features a wide variety of wireless products and services, including the popular SingleRate^SM service and a premier line of digital wireless phones, data products, pagers and accessories. All of these products and services are compatible with Verizon Wireless' superior, nationwide digital network.

"Verizon Wireless has made shopping for wireless phones more convenient for consumers in northern Colorado with this retail store," said Marni Walden, president for the Mountain Region for Verizon Wireless. "As with our other stores throughout the state, this location will not only sell wireless products and services, but will provide customer service after the sale."

The Crossroads Safehouse Program offers safe housing, counseling, support groups, community workshops and on-site advocacy to women and children victims of domestic violence.

The DART team members are called out by law enforcement, to scenes where domestic violence has occurred, to provide support and information to the victims. Verizon Wireless provides phones and service to the DART team also.

"Verizon Wireless is committed to making a difference in the communities in which we do business," said Marni Walden, president for the Mountain Region for Verizon Wireless. "In addition to the inherent, positive economic impact a retail store brings to the area, the donation to DART will help raise peoples' awareness of domestic abuse.

In addition to DART, Crossroads Safehouse operates K-DART, a response team for children. K-DART provides volunteers to listen and to support children who are in homes where domestic violence has occurred.

"This donation will help DART respond to our community's needs with the support and services that it has come to expect from our program," said Mary Jo Vasquez, coordinator and legal advocate for the DART program. "We're very grateful for the support that Verizon Wireless has shown for our efforts in combating domestic violence."

In addition to the donation to DART, the grand opening festivities include a radio remote, giveaways, food and a Buy One Get One Free promotion on the latest digital, tri-mode Nokia handset.

The Ft. Collins location is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

This is the 16th Verizon Wireless store to open in Colorado in the last 24 months, bringing more than 80 full time jobs and 15 part time jobs to the state.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless communications provider in the U.S. with 27.5 million wireless voice and data customers. The new coast-to-coast wireless provider was formed by the combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp -- now Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) -- and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). The new company includes the assets of Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, GTE Wireless, PrimeCo Personal Communications and AirTouch Paging. The company has a footprint covering nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population, 49 of the top 50 and 96 of the top 100 U.S. markets. Verizon Wireless, headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, is 38,000 employees strong. Reporters and editors can find more information about the company on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com.

###