[October 12, 2009] Center hosts cell phone program Tweet SANFORD, Oct 11, 2009 (The Sanford Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Like finding a glass of ice water in the desert, making a quick call home can quickly turn into a major ordeal for a soldier in a war zone. Sanford residents don't have to do much to help deployed troops stay in touch though. Just pay attention to where you put that old cell phone. The Lee County Enrichment Center has become an official drop off point for Cell Phones for Soldiers, a charity that provides prepaid calling cards to American military forces serving abroad. It's so important that families stay connected, to be able to talk to each other about the little things and the big things," said Janice Holmes, volunteer services coordinator at the center. "If giving them a calling card will do it, that's just something little we can do." Cell Phone for Soldiers was started in 2004 by then-12-year-old Brittany Bergquist and her younger brother Robbie when they heard of an Army sergeant who had been billed nearly $8,000 for phone calls to the United States from his base in Iraq "He had just been calling home to talk to his family," Holmes said. The Bergquists started their effort with $21 worth of spare change and snack money. As word spread, other donations began to pour in, but Brittany and Robbie soon found a way people could contribute without sacrificing a cent of their own money. ReCellular is a cell phone recycling company based in Michigan. Used phones, chargers and accessories donated to Cell Phones for Soldiers are sent to ReCellular and the company pays the charity for any equipment it is able to use. Proceeds from the recycling are sent to Cell Phones for Soldiers, which pools the money with other donations to buy calling cards for troops overseas. The charity has raised almost $2 million in five years, distributing more than 500,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers. As the organization grows, the Bergquists hope to begin buying video phones with prepaid service to allow soldiers to see their families on a regular basis. The Enrichment Center began collecting phones about a month ago and already have one box nearly full. Holmes signed on with the program as a project for the Enrichment Center to sponsor during the annual Make a Difference Day. Volunteers from the center participate in community service projects every year on the last Saturday in October. Past programs include local food drives and packing emergency supplies for seniors. Holmes decided to team up with Cell Phones for Soldiers so more people in the community could be involved in the project. She is pushing for ramped up donations leading up to Make a Difference Day on Oct. 24, but the program will be an ongoing effort at the center. Donors have dropped off outdated phones that haven't seen life in a decade, as well as current hot models like the Motorola Razor. Chargers, batteries, cases and even a pager or two have been dropped off at the center. Holmes was happy to see that many of the people stopping by to make donations had never been to the Enrichment Center before. "It's been great," she said. "We've got everything from the big cell phones from back in the day to the newest, tiny little phones." Cell Phones for Soldiers accepts all models of phones and accessories for recycling, working or not, but no revenue is generated from pagers, home phones or some other very old devices. A current-model phone that ReCellular can recondition for sale will yield about $10 for the charity. Older phones are worth $1 to $3, depending on the style. "I think the hardest part is remembering where you stuck that old phone at," Holmes said. "Other than that, it's just coming by, coming in, dropping it in the ox and you're done, and you've helped somebody." To see more of The Sanford Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sanfordherald.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Sanford Herald, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]