Recycle Your Old Cell Phone And Help Our Troops

by Nicole

You may not agree with the current Iraq war (or any war for that matter), but regardless, we can and should support our troops, many of whom come from some of the most economically challenged families in America. Some traded service for an education, others joined the reserves or the National Guard and had no expectation of ever seeing active service thousands of miles away from their loved ones. To honor our troops on Veterans Day (Nov 11th) non-profit organization Cell Phones For Soldiers are asking us to donate our old cell phones. Though the cell phones can't be used directly by troops abroad, since most US phones don't have GSM roaming capabilities, they are recycled by a company called ReCellular. For each donated phone, ReCellular gives Cell Phones For Soldiers enough money for an hour's worth of talk time, which is given to the troops via calling cards.

"Even from a non-combat zone like Bahrain, it can take hundreds of dollars to call home on a regular basis," explains Deputy Commander Curtiss C. Potter. He received a shipment of calling cards for his coastguardsmen serving in Bahrain (which acts as a base for ships patrolling throughout the Gulf region) and says they've "definitely made a difference."

"The hardest thing in the world is not being able to contact a family member when they are fighting in the war," says Kimberly (no last name given), an army wife from Stamford, CT. "My husband's unit was one of the first to go over to Iraq in 2002 and he has been back two times since then. When he first went over the only way to communicate was by mail, and that wasn't too good yet either. I had to wait almost 3 months until I knew that my husband was fine and alive!! I can't even begin to tell you how many letters I wrote and how many he received. It wasn't the same number. The first time I heard from him, I was at work and he was on night watch. I don't recall the time difference, but I do remember him telling me how nice it was to hear my voice."

Cell Phones For Soldiers was started in 2004 by two remarkable teens who were inspired by news reports of a soldier serving overseas who'd run up an impossibly large bill calling home. Brittany Bergquist, who was 13-years old at the time, and her younger brother Robbie, who was just 12, began with just $21, which they saved from their snack money and collected from friends at school. They deposited the money in a local Massachusetts bank, The South Shore Savings Bank of Hanover, which, after hearing their story, donated a further $500. Since then, Cell Phones For Soldiers has raised almost $1 million and has distributed more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.

"For the loved ones of soldiers serving abroad, Veterans Day is a day to honor those who have served in the past and protected all the freedoms we enjoy in the present," says Brittany. "We're asking Americans to make a small sacrifice of support by donating their unused cell phones, providing families with a much-needed connection to their loved ones overseas."


Phones can be sent to:


Cell Phones For Soldiers
C/O ReCellular
2555 Bishop Circle West, Dexter, MI 48130

Visit Cell Phones For Soldiers' website for a postage paid shipping label or to find a local drop-off spot from a list of over 3,000 nationwide collection sites. If you're worried about personal data on your phone, ReCellular have handy Data Eraser fact sheets for most models of phones that can be downloaded from their website.

| 11/05/07 | News