Students returning to school in the Borough of Middlesex this fall will walk to school on safer streets, thanks to wireless phones donated by Verizon Wireless, formerly Bell Atlantic Mobile. School crossing guards in the Borough have been outfitted with wireless phones programmed to dial 9-1-1 to quickly and easily summon help in emergencies.

"Every day, school crossing guards are on the front lines protecting our children as they navigate busy streets and intersections on their way to class," said Charles Hand, president of Verizon Wireless' New York Metro region. "These phones will ensure that they can summon help immediately without leaving their posts. These phones will put safety in the palms of their hands."

The Borough Council requested the phones to enable crossing guards to respond quickly to accidents, medical emergencies or crimes in progress.

The 13 phones donated by Verizon Wireless are part of the company's "Wireless At Work" community service program, one of a series of company initiatives designed to bring the benefits of wireless technology to communities throughout the New York/New Jersey metro area.

Since the inception of Wireless at Work in 1995, Verizon Wireless has donated and recycled over 13,000 wireless phones in the New York Metro area, providing essential communications tools to people who need a vital, reliable link to emergency services in times of crisis. Recipients of these phones include victims of domestic violence, community patrols, crossing guards and senior citizens. Domestic violence prevention & education has been the company's chief philanthropic focus since 1995.

Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless communications provider in the U.S. with more than 25 million wireless voice and data customers and nearly 4 million paging customers. The new coast-to-coast wireless provider was formed by the combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE:BEL), Vodafone AirTouch Plc (LSE:VOD; NYSE:VOD), and GTE Corp. (NYSE:GTE). The new company includes the assets of Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, GTE Wireless, PrimeCo Personal Communications and AirTouch Paging. The new 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 New York City and Bedminster, NJ, is 30,000 employees strong. Reporters and editors can find more information about the company in its Media Center on the Web at: http://www.verizonwireless.com/mediacenter

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