AAA South Jersey and nonprofit Cell Phones For Soldiers have announced that AAA South Jersey members and the South Jersey community, including the AAA Voorhees office, helped United States service men and women stay in touch with their families by donating more than 90 pounds of gently-used cellular phones.
Although the military landscape is ever-changing, as many as 200,000 troops are serving in the United States military overseas around the world. By donating to Cell Phones For Soldiers, AAA South Jersey members helped provide a lifeline for America’s bravest.
“We were overwhelmed by the response from the community to this collection drive,” said David Antrilli, CEO of AAA South Jersey. “For the past two months, people have come in to our offices, and remark about how good it made them feel to be able to support our military simply by donating their old cell phones. AAA South Jersey has a proud history of supporting and acknowledging our Armed Forces, so we were honored to be able to participate in this program and give our troops the opportunity to call home and talk to their loved ones.”
Cell Phones For Soldiers was founded in 2004 by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist at the ages of 12 and 13. The charity has since provided more than 220 million minutes of free talk time to servicemen and women stationed around the world through its calling card program, Minutes That Matter. Funds raised from the recycling of cellular phones are used to purchase prepaid international calling cards. On average, Cell Phones For Soldiers distributes 1,500 calling cards each week to bases around the world, care package programs, deployment ceremonies and VA hospitals.
“Each year we have been humbled by the amount of people and organizations like AAA South Jersey that take the initiative to support our military members,” said co-founder Robbie Bergquist. “The communication gap between those serving and their families is a crucial need that Cell Phones For Soldiers is committed to addressing for years to come.”
For every donated phone valued at $5, Cell Phones For Soldiers is able to provide two and a half hours of free talk time to deployed troops.
Since 2004, more than 11.7 million phones have been recycled or repurposed. Approximately half of the phones processed are reconditioned and reused. Phones and components that cannot be refurbished are dismantled and responsibly recycled to reclaim materials, including: gold, silver and platinum from circuit boards, copper wiring from phone chargers, nickel, iron, cadmium and lead from battery packs
For more information, please visit www.aaa.com or www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com.
