Bonita Springs Utilities is now a Cell Phones for Soldiers collection site

Bonita Springs Utilities has become a collection site for the Cell Phones for Soldiers program, which turns old cell phones into prepaid calling cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas. We kick started the effort by donating 100 of the utility’s phones that became obsolete when we changed cell phone companies as a cost-cutting measure. Shortly afterward, Comcast contacted us with a donation of an additional 500 used phones.
 
We’re proud to support our military personnel and to be one of 6,000 Cell Phones for Soldiers collection sites across the country. We’re also happy to make it easy for area residents to donate their unused cell phones, so we can all help to provide families with much-needed connections to their loved ones overseas.

You can support the program by donating your unwanted phones at the BSU office at 11860 East Terry Street in the lobby or at the drive-through window.

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Brittany & Robbie Bergquist of Norwell, Mass, in 2004. After reading a story about a soldier who ran up a huge phone bill calling home from Iraq, the teens started an account with $21 of their own money and began collecting cash donations and old cell phones. Their goal was to provide every U.S. soldier with a way to call home for free. Since then, the nonprofit organization has raised millions of dollars in donations and distributed more than 12 million minutes of prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas. The program hopes to collect more than one million cell phones this year to help keep troops connected with their families.

The donated phones are sold to ReCellular, which provides cash for calling cards. Approximately half of the phones are reconditioned and resold to wholesale companies in more than 40 countries around the world. Phones and components that cannot be refurbished are dismantled and 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; and plastic from cases and accessories.
 
“Americans will replace an estimated 150 million cell phones this year,” said Mike Newman, vice president of ReCellular, “with the majority of phones either discarded or stuffed in a drawer. Most people don’t realize that donating their unwanted phones can have a tremendous benefit for a worthy cause like Cell Phones for Soldiers.”

To learn more, visit www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com, or call Cynthia McHenry, who is coordinating BSU’s effort, at 992-0711. We invite you to support this program, which is a great way to recycle used equipment.