The student organization that collects the most phones for GW+Phones=Hope between Jan. 17 and Feb. 17 will receive $3,000 from the university.
Student organizations in second and third place will receive $2,000 and $1,000, respectively, and any student organization that turns in at least 100 phones will be entered in a drawing to win $1,000. The awardees will be announced at the George Washington Birthday Bonfire on Feb. 22.
The phones collected will be recycled and the proceeds will go to fund maternal and child health mobile technology projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal. The project is part of a Commitment to Action—a concrete plan to address a major global challenge—that GW made as host of the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative University annual meeting. The university has a goal of collecting 20,000 used cell phones and portable electronic devices before it hosts the meeting next March.
“We are proud to be bringing CGI U to GW this spring and the power of the student organizations on this campus will be able to show what they can accomplish by participating in this competition for a great cause,” said Tim Miller, associate dean of students. “We expect that many of our 400-plus organizations will take on this challenge and surprise us with what they will accomplish.”
All currently registered student organizations are eligible to participate in the challenge.
Donations must be brought to the fifth floor of Rice Hall between 9 a.m. on Jan. 17 and 5 p.m. on Feb. 17 to count toward the challenge, and only one student organization can be designated as beneficiary per donation.
For more information, visit www.gwu.edu/donate-phones or e-mail donate-[email protected].