Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal and Verizon Wireless are teaming up to educate Georgians about domestic violence.

Verizon Wireless presented First Lady Sandra Deal with a 20-thousand dollar check to use toward domestic violence education and prevention initiatives. Deal and Verizon are also encouraging Georgians to donate old cell phones to HopeLine. That’s a national cell phone recycling program to provide safe communication for victims of domestic violence.

First Lady Deal says she’s seen firsthand the effects of domestic violence on children she taught during her years as a teacher:

“Having been a teacher, I saw bullying, I saw children who came in after not having slept properly, not prepared for school, I feared it was domestic violence. Although at the time we didn’t talk about it much. I think now we’ve learned that we must talk about it.”

From 2003 through 2010, nearly one thousand Georgians lost their lives due to domestic violence.

Tags: Sandra Deal, parker wallace, domestic violence awareness