Editorial: Rotary supports ‘Cell Phones for Soldiers’

The Rotary Club of Green Valley has undertaken a worthy public-service project we hope you’ll support.

Rotary has joined the non-profit group Cell Phones for Soldiers in making prepaid phone cards available for service personnel around the world.

Here’s how the program works. Folks drop off cell phones at sites that collect them for Cell Phones for Soldiers. The phones are sold to a company that recycles them. The money from the cell phones is used to buy phone cards for troops to call home. It’s that simple.

The cell phones are not donated to soldiers in the Middle East. They would not work and cannot be sent to troops for security reasons.

If you’ve heard of Cell Phones for Soldiers, you probably know it was created by two children in 2004. Brittany Bergquist was 13 and her brother, Robbie, was 12 when they founded the charity. The goal was to help soldiers overseas call home.

The charity began when the Berquists heard about a soldier in their community who was charged a large fee on his phone bill. The kids raised money to help the soldier by emptying their piggy bank, getting snack money from their friends at school, and, with the first $21, they went to a local bank to open an account. The bank (in Hanover, Mass.), donated $500 to the charity.

The brother and sister are now raising funds to provide as many soldiers as possible with prepaid calling cards.

The ultimate goal of Cell Phones for Soldiers is to provide banks of satellite phones, video phones and Voice Over Internet Protocol communications. With these donations and the profits from the recycled cell phones, Cell Phones for Soldiers has distributed thousands of calling cards to soldiers in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

Three Green Valley businesses have agreed to be drop sites for Cell Phones for Soldiers. Dave Polsky Auto Centers, American Hair Salons and Busy Bee Printing generously agreed to participate.

“The soldiers have an opportunity to call home,” said Polsky, who’s helping coordinate project for Rotary. “I am big supporter of the project.”

The Rotary Club of Green Valley has been serving the area for more than 37 years. Previous service projects have included funding four-year college scholarships for Sahuarita High School seniors and mentoring students at Continental School.

The motto for Rotary worldwide is “Service Above Self.” Helping the troops phone home fits the description perfectly.

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