Cell Phones for Soldiers — A Worthy Cause

If you’re interested in doing something for our troops overseas, consider donating old or unused cellphones for the Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS) project. This program was founded by two teens from Massachusetts, Brittany and Robbie Bergquist, who read about a soldier struggling to pay a phone bill. The goal of Cell Phones for Soldiers is to provide every US soldier with a way to call home for free. This charity welcomes donations of any cell phones in decent condition — whether working or not. Phones that cannot be activated will be recycled with proceeds going to provide talk time for the soldiers. You can also donate money for talk time using PayPal. Cell Phones for soldiers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so your donations are tax-deductible.

One NRA employee is doing his part to support Cell Phones for Soldiers. Jim Dove, Manager of NRA’s Telecommunications Services, learned about the Cell Phones for Soldiers program from Vanessa Beebe, an assistant in the Executive Vice President’s office. For the past several months, Dove has been diligently collecting old NRA cell phones –- functioning and not –- for a worthy cause. “We want to support our men and women in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Dove told the NRA Blog. Right now his collection numbers 40, and he’s nearly ready to deliver the phones to CPFS.

Cell Phones for Soldiers has also enlisted the help of corporate sponsors. Through the end of April 2010, Little Caesars Pizza Parlors will collect used cell phones to help raise money for CPFS. Also, postage-paid cell phone shipping envelopes will be available to Little Caesars’ customers. In addition, AT&T has donated more than $500,000 worth of prepaid phone cards to Cell Phones for Soldiers. AT&T also provides CPFS drop-offs at its 2,000+ company-owned stores.