The other day I was cleaning out my office room and as I was cleaning I came across cell phone batteries, old cell phones, and two tablets. I put the things in a box to the side and kept cleaning. I was shredding a ton of old paperwork when I was almost done shredding for the day I looked over to the little box and thought to myself what am I going to do with this cell phone, batteries, and tablets. I can’t throw them away in the trash.

As I was staring at the objects a light bulb went on in my head. We can donate anything almost anywhere these days. Good old new technology. I got on my laptop got on Google and quickly looked up “where can I donate old cell phones” a few websites popped up that caught my eye and interest. One was donating to abused woman and children and the other one to soldiers or families of soldiers.

I thought to myself, wow this is interesting, how come I haven’t heard of this before? I clicked on the link for more information. I don’t know why I was so intrigued by a donating website for soldiers. Because don’t soldiers get all that they need from our government?

Well, apparently they don’t. There is so much soldiers need, especially the ones that don’t come back the same, the ones forced to another deployment against their will or because they need to get paid to support their families and the soldiers don’t come back as when they originally left.

Here is what I learned as I decided to go through the website to find out what they actually do as a whole. Cell Phones for Soldiers was co-founded and directed by Robert Bergquist. They are a 501c non-profit organization that helps soldiers and their families keep in touch. They also provide some financial assistance and support. The organization accepts cell phones and tablets by donation. You can also donate money.

They also have two other programs to help out soldiers and their families: Minutes that Matter: Request to Talk and Helping Heroes Home: Veterans Assistance. Anyone can get involved by donating a phone, donating funds, setting up a drop-off, or finding a site to donate. The programs are sponsored by a variety of large US companies. To mention a few, PEPSICO, CHEVROLET, AT&T, CAPITAL ONE and SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, VERIZON, KIND, CON-WAY FREIGHT.

Their Minutes that Matter program was founded in 2004. Their mission is to help troops call their families at no charge. Anyone can donate through the website. This program provides calling cards to troops so they can keep in touch with their loved ones.

Cell Phone for Soldiers also offers:

Helping Heroes Home: Veterans Assistance all tax-deductible donations allows the ability to assist with one-time emergency grants to help veterans transition into civilian life when it’s time for them to come home. The program has been assisting soldiers since July 2012 and the program has assisted more than 2,800 veteran’s transition.