The Cell Phones for Soldiers program was started back in 2004 by two teenagers from Norwell Massachusetts, 13-year-old Brittany Bergquist and her 12-year-old brother Robbie. They heard of a soldier racking up major charges trying to call home and were spurred into action. You can find the rest of their story on the site.
How you can help. You don’t even have to send cash, even though there is an option for that. The better way I believe you can help is by dropping off or mailing off your old cell phones. With the frequency that Americans upgrade their cell phones, there should be tons of them going to this organization. Click on Phone Donation to get the information. You will find an address that you can mail them off to or you can click the link to find if there are any donation centers near you. The organization uses the proceeds from the phones to purchase calling minutes for soldiers. Since 2004, they’ve purchased more than 400 million minutes of talk time.
If you donate more than 10 phones, you qualify for pre-paid shipping. That’s a great option for a church group or a large family to find good use for their old phones. There’s a helpful checklist of what you should do before donating the phone, like making sure to delete all of your old data.
You’ll also find volunteer opportunities. This is a wonderful organization and I’m glad I could share it with you. https://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/