Soldiers' Angels Unveils New Text-to-Donate for Military Support

/PRNewswire/ -- Nonprofit Soldiers' Angels today announced a new way to support the troops just by using a cell phone. Patriotic Americans can now text "Soldiers" to 20222 to donate $5 toward care packages, assistance for wounded warriors, and support for veterans and their families.

A volunteer-based nonprofit awarded the prestigious Spirit of Hope by the Department of Defense, Soldiers' Angels has a long history of using high tech and social media platforms to motivate volunteers and donations. From raising hundreds of thousands of dollars through military and political blogs to winning a Twitter-based "Social Media Makeover" competition last summer, Soldiers' Angels has demonstrated a continuing commitment to using all available technological resources in its mission to support the troops.

"We are so excited to give Americans this great, cutting-edge way to help make sure our heroes receive the support they need in this time of war," said founder Patti Patton-Bader. "Five dollars really is a modest amount of money, but it adds up so quickly and means so much to our efforts. With text-to-donate we are continuing to use the latest technology to draw more Americans into this important work."

Along with text-to-donate, Soldiers' Angels is rolling out its new Mobile Support Club. Members of the club will receive up to four monthly alerts and updates on events, projects, soldier stories, support needs and much more, right on their mobile phones. Supporters can sign up automatically by texting "Soldiers" to 20222 to donate $5, or by visiting www.soldiersangels.org and clicking on the "Stay Connected" graphic.

Established in 2003, Soldiers' Angels is an award-winning 501(c)(3) with hundreds of thousands of volunteers providing aid and comfort to the men and women of the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, as well as veterans and military families through a wide variety of hands-on projects and volunteerism. For more information, visit www.soldiersangels.org or call 615-676-0239. Tax ID# 20-0583415

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Cell Phones for Soldiers Announces Free Phone Program for Returning Troops

/PRNewswire/ -- In response to a growing need to support military members returning from active duty, Cell Phones for Soldiers today announced an expansion of their services by offering free cell phones to all armed forces returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To achieve this goal, the charity is calling on all Americans to donate their old phones to the cause. The free phones are drawn from those donated by individuals and corporations; to achieve this goal, an additional 1 million phones will need to be donated in 2010.

"With tens of thousands of our brave troops returning from active duty this year, the need to help them get back on their feet here at home has never been greater," said Brittany Bergquist, cofounder of Cell Phones for Soldiers. "We are thrilled to be able to provide this tremendous service to our brave men and women."

The Helping Heroes Home campaign relies on the donations of used phones. Qualifying phones are refurbished and given to requesting soldiers along with a month of calling time. Other donated phones will either be recycled or used to fund the charity's free calling-card program for troops overseas.

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded in 2004 by brother and sister Robbie and Brittany Bergquist. To date, they have provided more than 60,000,000 minutes of free calling cards thanks to a national network of individual and corporate supporters donating phones and money.

"There are more than 130 million phones retired every year in the United States," said Robbie Bergquist, cofounder of Cell Phones for Soldiers. "If just 2% of all American's were to donate their phones, we could supply every troop with a phone as a small measure of the gratitude of a nation."

Sponsors for this initiative include the Consumer Electronics Association, One Source Inc. and ReCellular Inc.

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A Million Minutes of Talk Time for Soldiers Thanks to Pak Mail

/PRNewswire/ -- Pak Mail centers around the country collected more than 17,700 unused cell phones that have been donated to Cell Phones for Soldiers, an organization that recycles the phones and uses the proceeds to buy prepaid calling cards that are sent to soldiers. The recycled cell phones collected by Pak Mail resulted in 1,070,000 minutes of talk time connecting soldiers with their families.

"Our armed forces count on the support of Americans to connect with their loved ones while serving abroad," said Brittany Bergquist, co-founder of Cell Phones for Soldiers. "The fantastic work of partners like Pak Mail Centers of America, Inc. is what makes this charity possible. We thank them for all they have done to help our service members."

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then the 501(c)3 non-profit organization has raised almost $2 million in donations and distributed more than 500,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.

Through increased fundraising efforts, the Bergquist family hopes to raise more than $9 million in the next five years to fund new programs, such as providing video phones and prepaid service to allow soldiers abroad to see their families on a regular basis.

The phones are sent to ReCellular, which pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each donated phone - enough to provide an hour of talk time to soldiers abroad. Approximately half of the phones ReCellular processes are reconditioned and resold to wholesale companies in over 40 countries around the world.

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