The University of Maryland Staff Senate once again joined with the Cell Phones for Soldiers family and initiated a campus-wide campaign to “Donate Your Old Cell Phones and Help Our Troops Call Home.”  This is probably one of our favorite projects to be involved in knowing that we are helping our troops “stay connected!”  What could be easier than to rumage through those drawers at home searching for unused, out-dated cell phones and simply drop them into one of the many collection boxes we have around the campus.  Our cost is but a few minutes of our time.  What we provide for our soldiers is invaluable; you can’t put a price on what it means to hear the voice of a loved one over the phone, especially when time and distance separates them.  What is amazing is that for every $5 raised, two and a half hours of talk time is sent overseas!  An added bonus is knowing that we are helping to reduce our envrionmental footprint by recyling all the phones collected. In the past month, we have collected over 300 cell phones to contribute to the Cell Phones for Soldiers campaign.  We look forward to continuing this project year after year in support of our service men and women who do so much for us and for our country.