Hello,
I was asked by Public Mobile to submit this to the Public Lab so that reaction to it would be gauged, thus determining if it were suitable for implementation.
I am proposing that PM become a permanent sponsor of women's shelters, specifically by giving all donated phones to them. I would like to see every web page prominently displaying PM's sponsorship and what it does with donated phones. Of course, this would be excellent public relations for the company, but, more importantly, the phones would go to the most worthwhile of causes. Donating a phone would be accomplished by sending a web mail to PM which, in turn, would reply by sending an envelope suitable for a cellphone.
Though society has progressed in some ways over the decades, threatening and beating women still prevails, unfortunately.
If you have a phone functional on any of the Big 3, but no longer wanted, why not donate it to a shelter for battered women?
Shelters usually operate on a shoestring budget, and are not in a position to give every woman a cell phone when she temporarily leaves the safety of the shelter. Some women are of very modest means, and therefore cannot afford a cell phone of their own. As a result, should they be at a disadvantage if they see their abuser? Being able to call 911 might literally mean the difference between life and death.
I recognize that, upon upgrading to a new phone, your old one might be worth $20, $50, $100, or more. Donating it, and foregoing money for it, might run contrary to your first impulse. In response, I ask you to calculate how much money in a month do you spend on junk food, how much do you spend on taxis when buses are sufficient, how much do you spend on buses when you can a walk, how much do you spend on beer, wine and liquor, how much do you spend on cigarettes, how much do you spend in restaurants instead of eating homemade food, and how much do you spend on an extra item of clothing that is not absolutely essential? When you calculate all of the preceding, it far exceeds what your old phone is worth.
Further, if your mother, sister, aunt, or female cousin were a battered woman who had to take refuge in a shelter, wouldn't you want her to be able to call 911 in an emergency, and live?
For additional information, contact the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres.
Do a good deed, and help someone in need.
