The Town of Poughkeepsie Police Benevolent Association (PBA) and the Arlington Fire Department joined forces last month to collect unwanted cellular phones for soldiers serving overseas. The partnership is part of a program called Cell Phones for Soldiers, where used cell phones are converted into prepaid calling cards for American soldiers.
This year, Cell Phones for Soldiers hopes to turn used cell phones into 12 million minutes of talk time. To reach its goal, the organization aims to collect 15,000 cell phones a month through a network of more than 3,000 cell phone drop-off sites nation wide; the Arlington Fire Station is one of the newest locations.
“We’re proud to show our support for U.S. soldiers, and to contribute to a worthy cause like Cell Phones for Soldiers,” said PBA President Frank Denardo in a May press release.
According to PBA member and cell phone drive coordinator Dawn Abbagliato, collection began last month, and will continue indefinitely.
“As long as we can help and it keeps working, we’ll keep collecting phones,” said Abbagliato.
Cell Phones for Soldiers was created in 2004 by Brittany Bergquist and her brother, Robbie. Brittany, then 13 years old, and Robbie, then 12, heard about a soldier who had incurred large fees by calling home while fighting overseas. The siblings wanted to help, and began by emptying their piggy bank. With just $21, they opened an account at a local bank, and began the Norwell, Mass.-based charity.
To date, the charity has raised nearly $1 million in donations, and has distributed more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers in Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
Cell Phones for Soldiers ships their collected phones to ReCellular – the world’s largest recycler and reseller of used phones and accessories. ReCellular, located in Dexter, Mich., was founded in 1991 as a response to the increasing numbers of discarded and unused cell phones. According to the company’s vice president Mike Newman, Americans will replace an estimated 130 million cell phones this year – phones that ReCellular hopes to refurbish, reuse or responsibly recycle.
ReCellular accepts over 15,000 phones daily, and recycles more than 4 million phones a year.
A positive partnership
Cell Phones for Soldiers teamed up with the company 2006, when, according to ReCellular’s Marketing Manager Angela Beaubien, the program became too much for them.
“They were sorting phones in their kitchen,” she said.
ReCellular currently receives thousands of cell phones a month from Cell Phones for Soldiers, and each one is estimated to be worth $5, which equates to one hour of talk time. Each phone is powered-up and call-tested; if a phone works and its LCD is intact, the phone can be reconditioned and resold to wholesale companies in over 40 countries around the world. If the phone cannot be refurbished, it is dismantled and its components are recycled to reclaim materials such as gold, silver and platinum from circuit boards; copper wiring from phone chargers; nickel, iron, cadmium and lead from battery packs; and plastic from phone cases and accessories.
From the funds ReCellular earns from re-selling the refurbished phones, the company purchases calling cards for Cell Phones for Soldiers.
The Bergquist family hopes to raise more than $9 million over the next five years to fund new programs, such as providing video phones with prepaid service to allow soldiers abroad to see their families on a regular basis, and for now, Poughkeepsie residents can help.
“We thought that it would be a good idea to get involved, and I’ve had people handing me phones everywhere,” said Abbagliato. “We’re glad we can make a difference.”
Local residents can support the collection by donating their phones at the Arlington Fire Station located at 11 Burnett Blvd. in the Town of Poughkeepsie. For more information, visit www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com.