Donate your used cell phone and help raise funds to save endangered elephants in Sumatra

Mother and calf Asian elephants in Sumatra

The El Paso Zoo is asking cell phone users to answer the call and turn in their used cell phones to help raise funds for Zoo efforts to help save endangered Asian elephants. Over the past four years the Zoo in cooperation with the El Paso Zoological Society and the World Wildlife Fund has been educating people about the endangered status of Asian elephants in Sumatra. The Zoo receives $1.00 for each phone collected with 100% of the money collected going to support elephant conservation in Sumatra.

The public may donate their used wireless phones by simply stopping at the Zoo during regular business hours and dropping them off at the front gate or by mailing their phones to: El Paso Zoo, 4001 E. Paisano, El Paso, Texas 79905.

The primary goal of the phone drive fundraiser is to collect wireless phones that consumers aren't using anymore. With more than 30 million used wireless phones lying idle in American homes and businesses, an individual can turn a used item into new funding that helps support our mission in a simple, but effective way.

Any portable cellular or PCS phone is accepted, excluding bag phones or vehicle-installed models. The Zoo will also take the phone's battery or charger, if available. All donors should deactivate the wireless service of any donated phones before turning them in. This fundraising opportunity not only benefits Zoo conservation efforts to help save Asian elephants, but donated phones that can't be refurbished are properly recycled to benefit the environment as well.

Over four thousand Zoo visitors have signed a petition calling on the Republic of Indonesia to create a Tesso Nilo protected area as a refuge for the last remaining sustainable herd of the Sumatran subspecies of Asian elephant. The park was established in 2004 and needs continued support. To learn more about the zoo conservation efforts and how you can help visit the Zoo's Take Action web pages at www.elpasozoo.org or call 915-521-1881.