I found a cell phone in front of my house

[catmandu57]

last week. There is a middle school in the next block, so I thought that someone had dropped it from a backpack. I called the school to see if anyone was looking for a phone, they said someone had lost one so I told them I'd leave it on our front steps and they could pick it up on the way home.

Anyway, it laid there for three days, so i brought it in, it's an old Nokia without a charger but there must be plenty of them around. I was going to have my wife drop it off at the women's shelter, then we seen a piece on the news about the homeless needing cell phones and it makes sense to give it to the homeless shelter.
If one is trying to get off the streets, then having a phone that a potential employer can call or a landlord is essential, so we're giving it to them instead.

So, if you're getting a new phone for Christmas donating the old one at a homeless shelter would be a very good thing to do.

[Speck Tater]

1. Here's how to find the owner...

Call the first number in the cell phone's auto-dial list and ask whoever answers if they know who's number you called from, and have them tell their friend where to pick up the lost phone.

If the first person doesn't know, call the second number, etc.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. It was probably some kid.

My nephew has lost about three cell phones this school term.

[catmandu57]

4. It's dead

We can't charge it, so apparently nobody wants it anyway off to the shelter it goes.

[karynnj]

15. If you take it do the carrier (Verizon, sprint etc)

they can charge it and call the owner.

[Cleita]

2. My cell phone service donates old cell phones that are traded

in to the battered women's shelter. I think both are a good idea.

[DaveJ]

5. Confused...

What good does a cell phone do to a homeless person who has no money for service and probably would be denied service anyway?

[catmandu57]

7. You can use the prepaid ones

maybe some shelter could pick up the tab for a month or people may donate prepaid cards. Many homeless people do work, they just can't put together what it takes to get into a place first. last, and deposit can be beyond their means. A phone though, offers a little bit of order in an otherwise chaotic existence.

[AngryOldDem]

9. That's correct.

Minutes are cheap and a lot of the homeless have phones. Unfortunately they are subject to theft among other homeless.

[Blashyrkh]

18. My thoughts exactly.

What the hell does a homeless person want with a mobile phone?

[geek_sabre]

6. GO here to find organizations that accept used cell phone donations

http://www.collectivegood.com/

[catmandu57]

8. Great thank you

I've bookmarked it, we'll see if the local shelter wants it first if they don't I'll give it to these guys.

[AndyTiedye]

10. Call 611 and Tell Customer Service You Found It

The Cellphone company should know whose phone it is.

[aikoaiko]

11. Possible IED, I would have hit it hard with my water hose.

:)

[Oilwellian]

12. Donating beats throwing them away any day

Depicts 426,000 cell phones...the number retired in the US each day.
http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php

[terisan]

13. The person who lost it may not have gotten the message. Why not give to police so that if the owner

reported it missing or stolen, he or she might be able to get it back.

My daughter's bike was stolen once and much to our surprise someone found it abandoned and turned it in to the police dept and she got it back.

[Mr_Monday]

14. That's a good idea.

Next time I get a new phone, I'll give the old one instead of throwing it away. Thanks for the info!

[Breeze54]

16. Why not check the phonebook on the phone and call the owner and

if you are going to donate it, battered women need cellphones to call for help
after the idiots they live with rip the phones out of the walls at their homes.

[MiniMe]

17. I think they set them up to be able to call 911 only

And the 911 calls are free. Battered woman shelters are a great place to donate to, because many of those women are in danger if their significant other catches up with them.

[Berry Cool]

19. I would try to find the owner first

and then, after all due diligence to find that person, make the donation if I had no luck.

It's like finding money. My first thought would not be "ooh, I get to keep it" or "who can I donate this to?"; it would be to try to find the owner. If that were not possible...