On behalf of the citizens of DeKalb County, Sheriff Patrick Ray last week presented Family Advocate Deborah Goodwin from the Cookeville Genesis House 149 donated used cell phones the Sheriff’s Department has collected from residents here.
Goodwin said “I want to thank the Citizens of DeKalb County for their cell phone donations. We take the donated phones, refurbish them, and give them to our clients as a way to contact law enforcement in case they find themselves in immediate danger or have an emergency. The cell phones only will call 911. Goodwin said that every 14 seconds in our country, a woman is battered by her intimate partner and every 5 years, more women are killed by domestic violence than Americans killed in the Vietnam War.”
Sheriff Ray also expressed his concern about domestic violence adding that 20% of all murders are domestic violence related and 76% of rape and sexual assaults are committed by husbands, ex-husbands, boyfriends, family members or acquaintances. Anyone who is a victim of domestic violence may contact Sheriff Ray at 597-4935 for information or for a ride to a domestic shelter in Cookeville. You may also call the 24 hour Genesis House Crisis Line at 1-800-707-5197 or 931-525-1637.
Sheriff Ray said he wants to thank the Citizens of DeKalb County for one of their largest cell phone donations ever and to remind you that the department will be collecting used cell phones again this year. You may drop off any cell phones at the Sheriff’s Office. “If you have a cell phone you no longer plan to use, whether or not it is functional, just drop it by the Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff’s Department collects these phones during the year and makes an annual donation on behalf of DeKalb County to the Genesis House,” said Sheriff Ray.
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