Cell Phones for Soldiers

Two teenage siblings, Brittany and Robbie Bergquist of
Massachusetts, learned several years ago of an army reservist who owed
$7600 for making phone calls home from Iraq.  Initially, they raided
their piggy banks and held car washes in an effort to help this
reservist meet his bills.

"We take for granted our ability to call home and speak to our families.  The troops don’t do that…" — Brittany, 16

Since then, the Bergquists have founded "Cell Phones for Soldiers"
which they manage from their home.  In doing so, they’ve provided more
than 24 million minutes (worth $1.4 million) in the form of more than
400.000 phone cards.  That breaks down to approximately 25,000 one-hour
phone cards sent overseas each month.  Their ultimate goal: "a phone
card a month for each of the more than 185,000 U.S. service members in
Iraq, Afghanistan and the Person Gulf".

They need our help.  Recycle your old cell phones and help support our troops.  Cell Phones for Soldiers solicits
unwanted cell-phones, sells them to a recycler for about $5 each, uses
the proceeds to buy prepaid phone cards that are shipped to the war
zone.

To donate a "Cell Phone for Soldiers" (including all makes and
models, chargers, batteries, accessories, BlackBerry PDA’s and pagers,
go to www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/locateDropoff.html.  To download a postage paid shipping label, go to www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/shippingLabel-generic.html and send to:

Cell Phones for Soldiers
c/o ReCellular
2555 Bishop Circle West
Dexter, MI 48130

A hearty congratulations to Brittany and Robbie.  This is quite an
accomplishment for two young people.  And quite a gift for members of
our armed services and their families and friends.

Cross-posted on Blog [with]tv 

Author: stevekuusisto

Poet, Essayist, Blogger, Journalist, Memoirist, Disability Rights Advocate, Public Speaker, Professor, Syracuse University View all posts by stevekuusisto