Needy Campbell County senior citizens who can't afford a cell phone soon will be able to get one for emergency calls.

        As a community project, seven social work students at Northern Kentucky University are seeking donations of old workable cell phones with chargers.

TO GET A PHONE

Seniors 62 and older with monthly incomes of less than $800, excluding medical expenses, can obtain a free cell phone. Phones will be distributed 9 a.m.-noon April 5 and on the first Friday of the month.     After that, they will be at the Campbell County Senior Citizens building, 3504 Alexandria Pike, Highland Heights.     For information, or to arrange to have a phone picked up, call Sally Schaefer at (859) 441-5558 between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. weekdays.

        The students started collecting the phones Friday, said Colleen Bohman of Edgewood, who is helping coordinate the project. Drop-off boxes have been, or soon will be placed in the social work office on NKU's campus, NKU's University Center, the Campbell County sheriff's office in Newport, the Newport police station, the Campbell County Police station in Alexandria and First Baptist Church in Cold Spring.

        The phones will have the capability of calling 911 only, Ms. Bohman said. She added the group is applying for grant money from various foundations to keep the phones repaired.

        “As long as a phone is in working order and has a charger, it can be donated,” she said. “When people get a new cell phone and still have their old one, we're asking them to give it to us.”

        Eventually, supporters hope to expand the giveaway into other Northern Kentucky counties.

        “I think this program will be very helpful for the seniors who can't afford to buy a phone,” said Pat Schneider of Senior Services of Northern Kentucky.

        Phil Racine, a human services specialist at the Northern Kentucky Area Development District where one of the NKU social work students is an intern, had suggested the cell phone giveaway when she sought ideas for a senior year project.

        “We got a rash of phone calls last spring when AARP published a newsletter that mentioned programs in West Virginia and California that were distributing free cell phones for emergency use,” Mr. Racine said.
       

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