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Program Helps Connect Military with Their Families Using Old Cell Phones

CellPhonesforsoldiers.com

  Men and women who are called to serve have a way of calling loved ones this holiday.  Monday, State Senator John DeFrancisco kicked off his 6th annual Cell Phones for Soldiers collection drive. 

Money from recycled phones buys service members more than calling card minutes.

“Whenever you go to a USO overseas, there are bags of these. Everybody runs for them. They’re like gold," said Army Staff Sergeant Alex Joy of Syracuse.

Joy has been deployed to Iraq twice…and says calling cards from Cell Phones for Soldiers save money and keep families connected.

“Being deployed upwards of 12 months at a time can definitely make an impact on a relationship. So, a 15 minute phone call for free can mean the world to anybody. I’ve used them on several occasions myself.”

Credit nysenate.gov/senator/john-defrancisco
State Senator John DeFrancisco kicked off 6th annual Cell Phones for Soldiers Monday.

  NATIONAL NON-PROFIT RUNS PROGRAM

Cell Phones for Soldiers is a national non-profit that collects old phones and turns them over to a recycling company. Money from one phone is enough to buy a service member two hours of prepaid calling card minutes. Mike Burns from the Syracuse Army Recruiting Battalion says the charity wants to take things a bit further this year.

“Since deployments are going down a little bit, what they’re doing is also offering grants through the program.”

Burns says those grants can help veterans and current active members pay household bills.  

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.