Phone For The Holidays: Helping residents in need stay connected [Video]

The need for food, clothes and shelter is often on the rise this time of year, but for many people, a cellphone is just as essential.

The people behind the annual donation drive Phones for the Holidays hope to give residents in the Halifax-area the chance to stay connected and protected.

“As temperatures drop, its very important that you have access to communication in case of emergency. It literally can be the difference between life or death for folks who are street-involved,” says Scott Dillard, the founder of Boom12 Communications.

Dillard says the campaign has been running for six-consecutive years and has collected more than 100 used phones for people who otherwise couldn’t afford one but need one to communicate.

“The idea is that we reach out to the community and ask folks to donate used smartphones that we can subsequently hand off to the North End Community Health Centre, who distribute it to street-involved individuals …