Kingwood-area retailers host cell-phone drop-off -PriceAngels
Three Humble-area retailers are collecting used i9500 S4 cell phones and cell-phone accessories to be recycled to provide calling cards for military service members stationed overseas.Cell Phones for Soldiers, is a 501(3) organization that was launched in 2004 by Massachusetts teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist. It started as a way to show the Bergquist family's appreciation for service personnel.
The program collects cell phones that are sent to a recycling center in Ohio.The recycling center will, depending on the condition of the phone, strip the phone of the small metal components to be reused in other phones, or the phones will be refurbished to be resold in other markets.Brittany Bergquist said the type of cell phones they collect are typically the older flip phones that are quickly disappearing from the market, but they will take all kinds.
"Any type of phone is acceptable," she said. "Even bag phones, car phones and those old brick phones from when cell phones first came out."Bergquist said the phones don't have to be in working condition to be accepted.They have accepted phones that are water-logged, have been run over or smashed beyond repair.
"We accept all of them," she said.The money derived from the Ohio recycling center for those old cell phones is used to purchase calling cards that are sent to the troops overseas.The inspiration for Cell Phones for Soldiers came as a result of a news story that Brittany and Robbie Bergquist had seen in their hometown about a soldier who'd amassed an $8,000 cell-phone bill to speak with loved ones from his overseas location.
"It was the first time we'd ever heard that the troops had to pay for their own phone calls home," she said."We knew we wanted to do something to make a difference."Their first hope was to pay off the soldier's i9500 S4 1:1 cell phone bill, but when they realized they could do more to help, they became inspired.DSsSed2ed
"We knew this was our calling," she said.Calling cards can be requested by the military service member's family or through the service members command by contacting Cell Phones for Soldiers through their website.Bergquist said Cell phones for Soldiers has sent out requests for as many as 5,000 calling cards at one time, which were distributed by unit chaplains or commanders who often work tirelessly to maintain good morale among the troops.
"It makes us feel good that we can support our troops and really help our heroes," she said.Since the launch of the nonprofit, it has provided 2.5 million phone cards, which equates to 181 million minutes of talk time.The program has also recycled more about 10.8 million cell phones, reducing their impact on landfills throughout the United States.
"This is what Cell Phones for Soldiers has become, and it's incredible to have touched so many lives," Bergquist said.Through July 31, the PostNet locations will be collecting used cell phones during regular business hours.