****MEDIA ADVISORY****

March 8, 2005

For Immediate Release

PHONES FOR LIFE COLLECTION DRIVES PROVIDE CRITICAL SERVICES TO THOSE IN NEED

Charity organization zeroes in on Tri-State area, with 160 drop-off locations, website launch, and distribution of more than 5000 cellular phones in 2004

New York, NY - Phones for Life, a non-profit organization that provides emergency-use cellular phones for the elderly and the disabled, recently celebrated the success of a ten-day phone drive beginning January 17, 2005, headquartered at the University of Pennsylvania. Forty-five donation boxes were distributed on Penn’s campus, at nearby Drexel University and in the neighboring community, by college students with the aim of collecting 200 phones to be distributed in February to a fixed-income senior center in Philadelphia. Phones for Life coordinates national phone equipment collections and drives, programs the phones for one touch emergency dialing, and redistributes them to a local donor area.

The five-year old organization recently made a bold move to New York City, bolstered by a partnership with NYC retailer S Wireless that offered nine of their Manhattan stores as drop-off locations for phones and accessories.

Says Phones for Life president Raymond Dorman, “As a result of many phone donation drives, centered mainly in Long Island communities, Phone for Life’s stock of cell phones is ready to meet our many requests from seniors in the Tri-state area. Phone for Life’s roots are in this region and it has been with great pride that we have the opportunity to refocus our efforts here locally,” says Mr. Dorman.

Another successful drive in the Township of Oyster Bay on January 7 resulted in Phones for Life distributing more than 200 cell phones to seniors of the Oyster Bay Housing Authority, comprised of 10 complexes funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Resident coordinator Mary Ellen Brock and the Housing Authority have been collecting phones for these seniors. “These cell phones provide such a sense of security for our senior residents, adding to their safety,” comments Ms. Brock. Marcia Healy, one of the Oyster Bay Housing Center residents that recently was provided with a reprogrammed cell phone feels this is “a great service for seniors who live alone” Alyce Foese another resident recipient elaborates, “having an emergency contact cell phone allows seniors to feel much safer.”

The project in Philadelphia took its lead from the Friends of 40th Street, a community advocacy group dedicated to the growth and equitable development of the 40th Street corridor in West Philadelphia near the Penn campus, working with the University of Pennsylvania and other community partners.

Joining the drive was the undergraduate assembly at Penn and the Office of Government Relations at Drexel. Collection boxes have been located at many University of Pennsylvania sites, as well as on the Drexel University campus and throughout University City.

Dr. Lucy Kerman, Special Projects Coordinator at the University of Penn, is a member of the Friend’s of 40th Street, and helped arrange the drive with undergraduate students and community residents. “Working with Phones for Life has been extraordinarily easy. We are delighted to have found such a strong partner to help up meet our goals,” says Dr. Kerman.

Riding the wave of momentum and support, Dorman is equipping all 90 offices of Weichert, Realtors in New Jersey with collection boxes. “This was a wonderful opportunity to get involved with a group that is really making a difference in people's lives,” comments Jo Ann Mallena, sales representative of Weichert, Realtors.

Dorman says he also recently launched a web site to help spread the word about his organization. Dr. Larcheveque, CEO & founder of Phones for Life, says, "The continued support of the generous public at large and the civic-minded businesses and corporations helps us to achieve our mission of providing 911 access to seniors." In addition to a streamlined, user-friendly look, Dorman points to the biggest selling point of the new site: a Donate Your Phone button where viewers can click and follow a step-by-step process to send in their cell phone with postage provided by Phones for Life.

“While we are in the business of helping the elderly and low-income stay in touch technologically, we at Phones for Life must ourselves leverage technology to continue our work. For this reason we understand the importance of setting up a user-friendly site to make donations even easier,” reflects Mr. Dorman.