Friday, May 25th, 2007...5:56 am
The Diva Speak: Memorial Day- Honoring Our Soldiers
As the Memorial Day Holiday begins I am asking for all of my readers, friends and family to take a moment this weekend and help support a project that I feel is worthwhile.
Cell Phones for Soldiers is a charity that was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, MA with about $20 of their own money. There hope is to turn old cell phones into more than 12 million minutes of prepaid calling cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas in 2007. To do so, Cell Phones for Soldiers needs to collect 15,000 cell phones each month through a network of more than 3,000 collection sites across the country or through your donation being sent via a prepaid mailing envelope. The donated phones are then recycled by a company and the funds from your old phones are donated to purchase the deeply discounted calling cards for our men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces overseas.
The kids are the real deal and have garnered the attention and cooperation of many big named businesses and personalities including; Jim Kelly, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback of the Buffalo Bills and AT&T who is providing assistance with the calling cards and their stores will soon be drop-off centers. The kids are scheduled to appear on TV and radio shows all weekend plugging the cause. Just so you know–Cell Phones for Soldiers is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization (tax deductible) and has raised almost $1 million in donations and distributed more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas to date. But of course, we need more participation….
So here’s what the Diva’s asking you to do… I know all of you Geeks and Readers out there have 
more than one old cell phone lying around the house. I’ve got at least 4 laying around here– and it’s time they find a new home. So this weekend dig out your old cell phones, accessories and batteries, put them in a box or mailing bag, go print out a mailing label and take them to a mailbox before you head out to buy your steaks and beer. Oh yes, one more thing– pass this info along to a couple of your friends and family, and even your co-workers, okay?
The Reality Check is: You’re never going to use those old phones again, and putting them out in the trash to pollute the landfills is illegal, so why not send them off to be recycled and help someone in uniform? You will never know how important those phone calls home to our soldiers and their families.
I’m asking you to pass this information around! Bloggers feel free to link here from your site!
If you do participate– drop me a note or hit the comments key below and let me know.
Oh one more thing… Wireless Recycling offers free programs to erase your cell phone data. Click here to see if your phone is listed.
