UNH Supports Cell Phones for Soldiers Effort
 
By Dana Prifti, Media Relations Writing Intern

Little compares to the joy of hearing the voices of loved ones when you’re far away from home, especially during the holidays. And especially when you’re a soldier overseas.

To make the holiday season a bit brighter for families with relatives in the military service, UNH is collecting cell phones for Cell Phones for Soldiers. Simply look for the basket with the American flag that sits at the MUB Info Center, which is a drop-off point for anyone wanting to donate to Cell Phones for Soldiers.

Started in April 2004, Cell Phones for Soldiers collects used cell phones from across the country. Fed Ex ships them for free to recycling plants, which purchase them. The recycling proceeds are used to buy calling cards that are sent overseas so soldiers can call home for free.

Sylvia Marple, assistant professor of hospitality management, read about the Cell Phones for Soldiers program in the Portsmouth Herald and immediately got in touch with the teenagers who started the program. With a son who is a captain in the Marine Corps stationed in Iraq, Marple saw the program as a wonderful cause and a great opportunity to help maintain the effort to connect overseas soldiers and their families.

The cell phone collection center at the MUB will remain available until Thanksgiving break. Marple hopes to establish another drop center after the winter break to continue serving this program. The Cell Phones for Soldiers program will accept any make or model cell phone. Participants are asked to drop off the cell phone with only the attached battery.

Since its inception, Cell Phones for Soldiers has collected more than $250,000 and sent more than 9,000 prepaid calling cards to troops overseas. Money collected at drop off centers in New Hampshire will be used to help servicemen and servicewomen from the state of New Hampshire.

When Marple contacted Brittany Bergquist, the Massachusetts teen who began the program, the idea of a drop off center at UNH was embraced. “College students seem to change phones quick than they change shoes,” Bergquist said. The program also wants to establish videophone links with troops stationed overseas so that soldiers can not only talk to their families, but see them as well.

For more information on Cell Phones for Soldiers, visit http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com. For efforts at UNH, please contact Marple at 2-3458 or email sylvia.marple@unh.edu.