LCCREF Urges Households to Apply for Converter Box Coupon Now

Washington, DC – Today, with only 11 days left until the digital television transition, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF) are urging unprepared households to apply for a converter box coupon as soon as possible.  Households that fail to apply now risk receiving a coupon after June 12th and ultimately scrambling without television for weeks, left without a connection to emergency alert information. 

The transition deadline is almost here. Though many families live on fixed incomes and rely on the $40 government subsidy to purchase a converter box, hundreds of thousands are still unprepared or have yet to apply for a coupon.  Families must take the first step now to ensure they receive a coupon with enough time to purchase a converter box and install it before all TV moves to digital. 

To apply for a coupon, households must call 1-888-DTV-2009 or visit www.DTV2009.gov today before it is too late. 

Additionally, if families have a coupon they can donate, now is the time to help those who may not get their coupons in time.  LCCREF has partnered with more than 50 community organizations to collect and distribute hundreds of coupons to needy families.  In a time of economic uncertainty, many are turning to community organizations for help.  To help these families with the switch, people with unused and unneeded coupons can mail them to:

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund
National DTV Coupon Exchange Program
P.O. Box 66081
Washington, DC 20035 

###

LCCREF has teamed up with local organizations nationwide to provide trainings and DTV-related assistance to members of impacted populations in seven major cities: Atlanta, GA; Detroit, MI; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Portland, OR; San Antonio, TX; San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland CA; and Seattle-Tacoma, WA.