Every Partner Counts: Hope Phones

From the moment we met Josh Nesbit and learned about Hope Phones, we knew it was a partnership that had legs. Hope Phones collects used cell phones (we all have at least 3 in a drawer somewhere, right?), recycles them and then uses the proceeds to purchase phones on the local market to equip health workers so they can better do their jobs. It's environmentally sound, it helps address serious communications barriers, and links people with services they desperately need. Since Mother's Day 2011 we have worked with Hope Phones to mobilize 12,000 phones for the Democratic Republic of Congo. We continued to work on collecting phones with GW campus in the fall, which generated another 3,500 phones and then in the spring we joined forces with the ONE Campus Challenge and launched a new effort to include Kenya, mobilizing 1,238 phones to date.

We're by no means finished. The need in Kenya still surpasses the number we've collected to date and while we gear up to do more there, you can continue to send your cell phones in to Hope Phones (they will send you free shipping materials). Or you can download a prepaid shipping label (pdf).

Stay tuned as we'll be gearing up our collection efforts this summer. When you find a partner like Hope Phones, you want to do everything you can to support them. So that's just what we're going to do!