Cell Phones for Soldiers

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded in 2004 by a 12 and 13 year old brother and sister. After hearing about a soldier with an $8,000 phone bill, Brittany and Robbie Bergquist decided they wanted to pay the bill and they started with $14 of their own money. They began raising money through car washes and bake sales and then stumbled upon the idea of recycling old cell phones, which has grown into a national campaign.

Thanks to our patrons, the Library presented 227 phones to Cell Phones for Soldiers last month. These phones generated 13620 minutes of calling time for troops.

To date, Cell Phones for Soldiers has raised more than $7 million and provided more than 90 million minutes of free talk time. Due to the mobile phone recycling program, more than 7.5 million cell phones have been recycled since 2004, thus reducing the impact on landfills.

Encourage family and friends to support our troops by donating a mobile device to the program- you can drop them off at the Library or go to the Cell Phones for Soldiers website to find other locations.