The New York State Association of REALTORS®' Young Professionals Network Group held a used cell phone collection drive at the recent NYSAR Fall Business Meetings at Turning Stone Resort to benefit victims of domestic violence.

To encourage participation, NYSAR made it a contest between their 8 geographic regions. Coming out on top, of course, was the Southern Tier (Binghamton, Elmira-Corning, Ithaca, Cortland and Otsego-Delaware), who collected over 70 phones for this great cause!

On Thursday, October 9th, NYSAR Southern Tier Regional Vice-President and Ithaca Board of REALTORS® State Director, Amy Wood Gonzalez delivered the phones to The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County.

"Thank you so much for collecting the cell phones for our agency," Hillenbrand says. "It means so much not only to us but for the lives of our clients. Some of the cell phones that were collected will become phones that can be used to contact emergency personnel if needed. Any cell phone, even without minutes can be used to call 911. It is a tool that we use with our clients for safety planning purposes. The rest of the phones will be sent to the shelter alliance. From the Shelter Alliance we receive a donation that helps us give the highest level of support to our community. Thank you so much for supporting us in the work that we do!"

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