Registered 501(c)3 Organization Hopes to Collect 10,000 Cell Phones, Enough to Provide 60,000 Minutes Calling Time for Troops Serving Overseas

NORWELL, Mass., April 3, 2009 – For National Cell Phone Recycling Week, Cell Phones for Soldiers hopes to collect more than 10,000 phones to keep troops serving overseas connected with their loved ones at home. To support the effort, Americans are asked to collect all their old cell phones and donate them to Cell Phones for Soldiers.

The ambitious goal is only one percent of the estimated 1.8 million cell phones Americans will retire during the five days of the National Cell Phone Recycling Week, April 6 -10. The vast majority of these phones will be added to landfills, where they pose a toxic risk to the surrounding environment.

Cell Phones for Soldiers safely recycles retired cell phones, and uses the proceeds to provide prepaid calling cards for the brave men and women serving in the Armed Forces abroad. The average recycled cell phone is worth enough to provide a 60 minute calling card for international use.

“Donating your old cell phone is a small, easy sacrifice to make to support our troops.” says Brittany Bergquist, Cell Phones for Soldiers co-founder. “But for the troops overseas, it provides a priceless connection to their loved ones at home. ”

You can support the collection drive by donating your phones at any AT&T corporate location or by visiting the Cell Phones for Soldiers website to find a local drop off site.

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered 501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $1 million in donations and distributed more than 500,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.

“We are continuously overwhelmed by the enthusiastic support of thousands of Americans who have helped our troops speak with their loved ones,” says the teens’ father, Bob Bergquist. “However, the need for support continues as we have soldiers being deployed all over the world and many in the Middle East are being asked to serve extended tours of duty.”

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. They are also researching programs to provide technology for returning Veterans to aid their transition back into the work force.

The donated phones are sent to ReCellular, which reimburses Cell Phones for Soldiers for recycled phones. Approximately half of the phones ReCellular processes are reconditioned and resold to wholesale companies in over 40 countries around the world. Phones and components that cannot be refurbished are dismantled and recycled to reclaim materials, including:

• Gold, silver and platinum from circuit boards
• Copper wiring from phone chargers
• Nickel, iron, cadmium and lead from battery packs
• Plastic from phone cases and accessories

More information on ReCellular’s recycling processes and benefits can be found in their 2008 Corporate Sustainability Report, which is available for download at: ReCellular Sustainability Report

CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS – Marianna High School’s Technology Student Association and Chipola College’s Phi Theta Kappa combined their efforts to collect nearly 100 used cell phones for the Cell Phones for Soldiers program. Proceeds from recycled phones are used to purchase calling cards for soldiers to call their loved ones. Pictured from left, are: (front) Marianna High students Nick Simmons, (TSA president) Kendra Bennett, Amelia Wester, Ashley Chalker, (back) Chipola students Kara Jumper, Alicia Hatcher and Cassie Mitchell and TSA advisor Vicki Garrett.

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Cell Phones for Soldiers to Turn Donated Phones Into 18 Million Calling Card Minutes for U.S. Troops

Oaks, Pa. (June 12, 2008) – Today, Comcast Cable’s Eastern Division announced a partnership with Cell Phones for Soldiers to make it easier for service members overseas to call home without calling collect. Comcast has collected nearly 300 older cell phones from employees throughout its Eastern Division, and has committed to donating up to 1,200 within the first year of the partnership. The phones will be sent to ReCellular, which pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each donated phone – enough to provide an hour of talk time in pre-paid calling cards to soldiers abroad.

The Cell Phones for Soldiers program works to turn old cell phones into more than 18 million minutes of prepaid calling cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas. To do so, Cell Phones for Soldiers expects to collect 25,000 cell phones each month through a network of more than 10,000 collection sites across the country.

“Comcast is pleased to help provide opportunities for service members overseas to stay connected with their friends and families during special occasions like Father’s Day and throughout the year,” said Michael Doyle, president of Comcast Cable’s Eastern Division and founder of CN8, The Comcast Network. “Comcast employs hundreds of veterans and service members throughout its footprint, and we are pleased to add this to our growing roster of public service programs and initiatives to support troop members and their families.”

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered 501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $2 million in donations and distributed more than 500,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.

“Cell Phones for Soldiers started as a small way to show our family’s appreciation for the men and women who have sacrificed the day-to-day contact with their own families to serve in the U.S. armed forces,” said the teens’ father, Bob Bergquist. “Over the past few years, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of others – but as more troops continue to serve overseas and for longer assignments, there is a continuing and growing need to expand our efforts.”

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 and speak with their families on a regular basis.

“Americans will replace an estimated 130 million cell phones this year,” said Mike Newman, vice president of ReCellular. “The majority of these phones either discarded or stuffed in a drawer – most people don’t realize that the small sacrifice of donating their unwanted phones can have a tremendous benefit for a worthy cause like Cell Phones for Soldiers.”

Approximately half of the phones ReCellular processes are reconditioned and resold to wholesale companies in more than 40 countries around the world. Phones and components that cannot be refurbished are dismantled and recycled to reclaim materials. This year alone, ReCellular expects to recycle one million pounds of scrap phones and accessories, and it works with recycling partners to reclaim materials from virtually every component donated, including:

• Gold, silver and platinum from circuit boards
• Copper wiring from phone chargers
• Nickel, iron, cadmium and lead from battery packs
• Plastic from phone cases and accessories
• Paper and cardboard from shipping materials used for donations

ReCellular has supported more than 2,000 national and local charities since pioneering its Charity Cell Phone Donation Program. In 2007 ReCellular raised $8 million for charities such as Cell Phones for Soldiers.

“One of the founding principles of ReCellular is to build a successful business that is both socially and environmentally responsible,” added Newman. “It is a great honor and privilege to support such a worthy and inspiring effort as the Bergquists’ Cell Phones for Soldiers, and we are delighted to see companies like Comcast joining in the campaign.”

Partnering with Cell Phones for Soldiers is just one of the many ways Comcast shows its support for America’s troops. From signature “Get Local” programs like Troop Greetings ON DEMAND, a service that allows military personnel stationed overseas to send special holiday greetings to their loved ones back home, to military-focused investments, volunteerism and programming, Comcast helps connect service members and their families to what matters most in their lives. Most recently, Comcast’s Eastern Division made military service graduations from the Air Force, Naval Academy and West Point available to its Digital Cable subscribers through its Local Video ON DEMAND service, allowing customers to watch at their own convenience from home, with the ability to pause, fast-forward and rewind.

About Comcast

Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Cable is a division of Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com), the nation’s leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services. With 24.7 million cable customers, 14.1 million high-speed Internet customers and 5.2 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast’s Eastern Division serves almost 5.4 million customers along the New York to DC corridor, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia and North Carolina. The Eastern Division also founded and manages CN8, The Comcast Network, one of the nation’s largest and most honored regional 24-hour diversified television networks, seen by more than nine million homes on the East Coast. The Eastern Division employs approximately 18,000 people and is based in Oaks, Pennsylvania.

BECK (voice over): Brittany and Robbie Bergquist are typical teenagers. They have school, sports and friends that keep them busy. And, oh, yeah, they also run a nonprofit organization.

ROBBIE BERGQUIST, CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS: Brittany and I heard a story about a soldier who had run up about an $8,000 cell phone bill trying to call home. And so Brittany and I talked and we were like, we have got to help out this soldier. So we ran upstairs and got $21 out of our own piggybanks and started this organization.

BECK: And that`s when Cell Phones for Soldiers was born, conceived four years ago, when Brittany and Robbie were just 13 and 12 years old.

BRITTANY BERGQUIST, CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS: We did a little bit of research, talked to our cousins who are in the military, and tried to figure out ways to help the troops call home and realized that phone cards were the best way.

R. BERGQUIST: And we talked to our parents and we figured out that we could recycle phones. And so it`s just jumped into this huge business.

BECK: Soon their home was filled with unused cell phone and chargers.

R. BERGQUIST: We had about 40 or 50 boxes filled with phones. I mean, the boxes are huge themselves. And it really - it did look like a mountain. It really did.

And we couldn`t get - we couldn`t get to our piano. I know, I`m an avid piano player. I don`t play the piano.

BECK: They get $5 for each recycled phone which they use to purchase prepaid calling cards.

R. BERGQUIST: We know that on average, it`s around 20,000 to 30,000 phones per month. And it`s changing every month.

BECK: So what started with 21 bucks out of a piggybank has grown to raise almost $1 million in donations and distribute more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards to our troops.

B. BERGQUIST: It is really incredible to think that at 12 and 13, we had the ability to start a program like Cell Phones for Soldiers that has impacted so many people`s lives.

BECK: Leave to it two kids with big ideas and big hearts to figure out something the rest of us couldn`t.

B. BERGQUIST: There are about 500 million used cell phones out in the country right now that are just lying around and nobody is doing anything with. And if we do get just half of those, we could make it so that the troops never have to pay for another phone call home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: All right. Here they are, these two incredible teens who started Cell Phones for Soldiers when they were 12 and 13 years old.

Now you guys are what, 16 and 17?

B. BERGQUIST: Exactly.

R. BERGQUIST: Yes.

BECK: And Brittany, you`re on vacation?

B. BERGQUIST: Yes.

BECK: I mean, Robbie, you just - you don`t to go on vacation?

R. BERGQUIST: Well, I guess.

BECK: OK.

B. BERGQUIST: He gets…

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: Let me - I just have to ask - I have to ask this question. What the hell did your parents do right? I mean, really, what did you parents do that made you guys into, like, you know, non-animal teens?

B. BERGQUIST: Well, I think…

R. BERGQUIST: I think that just from the beginning, they instilled in us that, you know, we do have to help out others, and really other people do come before we do. So they - right from the beginning when we saw someone who was on the street, they told us, you know, go give them a couple dollars, or when an ambulance went by they said, you know, cross your fingers, hope everyone is OK.

So, really, they said you need to care about other people before you care about yourselves. So when this story came up, it was really Brittany and I - finally our big opportunity to help out someone who was really in need.

BECK: I am amazed by you guys.

Brittany, you actually just wrote a letter. You went to the AT&T Web site, right?

B. BERGQUIST: Yes.

BECK: And you, like, found a name and you`re like, I`m going to write to that guy. And it turned into a $500,000 donation from AT&T?

B. BERGQUIST: Yes. They have done so much for us since they became partners in Cell Phones for Soldiers. They`ve donated over, I think, $850,000 worth of phone cards to Cell Phones for Soldiers, which is absolutely amazing. And they have created co-branded phone cards for us, so it has Cell Phones for Soldiers and AT&T so we can send those over to the troops.

And they have been absolutely amazing. And they gave us scholarships for college. They have been incredible.

BECK: For you two?

B. BERGQUIST: Yes. They gave us…

BECK: What are you guys - besides ruling the world, what do you guys want to do?

B. BERGQUIST: I have no idea yet. I think possibly media broadcasting.

BECK: Really?

B. BERGQUIST: It would be really fun to do that.

BECK: You come and intern for me any time. Anybody who has that kind of drive, anybody who can see something and move it, you come and intern for me any time.

Robbie, what do you want to do?

R. BERGQUIST: You know, I`m still trying to enjoy high school for what it is. I`m coming into my junior year.

BECK: Yes, me too.

R. BERGQUIST: So I`m still not really sure. I mean, I would love to - I would love to, you know, maybe do some broadcasting as well, but more in the sports area. I love sports, so I think that would be a great area for me. But, you k now, I`m still trying to enjoy some of my teenage years.

BECK: You are welcome as well to intern.

Tell me about this, if you go to - if you go to amazon.com, you get this little bag on any order, right? Is this still going on?

B. BERGQUIST: Yes, it is.

R. BERGQUIST: Yes.

BECK: OK. What is it?

B. BERGQUIST: Well, our recycling company has developed prepaid mailing envelopes that go out with every package from amazon.com, and also from a few different Web sites and organizations that are sending out packages as well all over the country. And people can take their used cell phones, put them into the envelope, just close it up. It has, like, sticky stuff already on it.

It`s really simple. And all you have to do is put it into the mailbox and it will get sent straight to our recycler.

BECK: And Robbie, you`re also seeing that AT&T is sponsoring concerts and they`re urging concert-goers to do the same thing?

R. BERGQUIST: Exactly. When people go to a concert, they - there will be AT&T little areas where they can go and they can find out all about Cell Phones for Soldiers, and people who go to concerts can actually pick up these little mailing envelopes that they can send their cell phones through.

BECK: Listen, real quick, what are your parents` names?

B. BERGQUIST: Gale (ph) and Bob.

R. BERGQUIST: Bob and Gale (ph).

BECK: Bob and Gale (ph). I want you to say thank you to them right now. Right now.

B. BERGQUIST: Thanks, mom and dad.

BECK: Yes.

And Robbie…

R. BERGQUIST: Thanks, mom and dad.

BECK: And Robbie, you say whatever - “You were right the whole time.” Say it. “You were right, mom and dad, the whole time.”

R. BERGQUIST: You were right the whole time.

BECK: All right. Good. Thanks a lot.

Read the Full Transcript

DALLAS, July 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Recycle wireless phones and help connect U.S. military families with free phone cards. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and military charity Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS) have been connecting those dots since July 2007 - by recycling cell phones in more than 2,000 AT&T stores across 1,100 U.S. cities. And, as Independence Day approaches, the company and the charity are celebrating that CPFS has now raised more than $2 million - including recycling proceeds and financial and in-kind donations - since the two joined forces.

To celebrate the one-year milestone, AT&T is now pledging another year of recycling support for the charity - in all company-owned stores.

CPFS collects and recycles wireless phones and uses the proceeds to buy free phone cards for U.S. military members and their families. The first-year results of the program have surpassed the 2007 goal of raising $1.4 million, enough to provide a free 20-minute phone card for all troops stationed in Iraq at that time.

Phones recycled through AT&T stores, community drives and online tools have added volume to the broader efforts of the CPFS recycling program, which has now collected more than a million total wireless phones since July 2007 - including 90,000 phones collected via AT&T channels in just the past three months.

This builds on the environmental challenge issued in April 2008, when AT&T pledged to help the charity recycle 1.8 million phones by April 2009 and expanded its support beyond company stores, to also engage a network of more than 300,000 AT&T volunteers, The AT&T Pioneers. Through community-based donation drives, volunteers have already collected more than 10,000 additional wireless phones in the just past few months.

“As we approach one of the most patriotic holidays of the year,” said Paul Roth, president of Marketing and Sales for AT&T’s wireless unit, “we’re focused on helping to keep military families connected. Our work with Cell Phones for Soldiers is one way we’re doing that, and anyone can join us by dropping a used cell phone in our stores or by using the free resources available online. We know that we can make a difference because we’ve already seen it happen: Our weekly in-store recycling averages are three times what they were in 2007 and 17 times more than the same time in 2006.”

AT&T is also supporting CPFS by accepting recycled phones via sponsored events like the Vans Warped Tour 2008, a popular music festival making more than 40 stops across the U.S. this summer, and the AT&T National, in Bethesda, Md., where CPFS recycling mailer bags will be available to golf fans attending the tournament.

“When we first sent an e-mail to AT&T more than a year and a half ago, we never dreamed the company’s response would lead to so much more support for military families, ” said CPFS co-founder Brittany Bergquist. “AT&T has helped us reach more people with our mission - through more recycling locations, more phone cards for the troops, more public awareness for our cause, and now, new corporate partners who have noticed us and come on board to help. We are so grateful to AT&T for all of this, and we are excited to continue our recycling mission with them for another year. It means that more military families will be able to stay in touch. And that means a whole lot to us at Cell Phones for Soldiers.”

CPFS estimates that - thanks to the proceeds from recycling efforts, financial and in-kind contributions, enhanced visibility, and new, large-scale partnerships - it has sent roughly 200,000 free phone cards to military members since last May, when AT&T first announced its support and the two organizations began working together to build awareness for the cause.

As we all prepare for Independence Day and a salute to the men and women serving this country, Hoar Program Management will be sponsoring cell phone drop boxes at the following program management offices from June 6, 2008 through June 28, 2008:
- Birmingham, AL
- Tuscaloosa, AL
- Houston, TX
- Dallas, TX
Each location will also be accepting prepaid calling cards and checks made out to Cell Phones for Soldiers. The Birmingham office will close the collection drive with an event at Veteran’s Park on June 28, 2008 in Birmingham, AL.

Our goal is to collect enough phones and money to supply 1,000 hours of talk time to our soldiers overseas.

For details, please see our website at http://www.hoarpm.com/community_service/default.aspx or from the main Hoar Program Management website http://www.hoarpm.com/ by going to the “About HPM” selection and scrolling to “Community Service”.

We look forward to a successful drive and appreciate everyone who participates and contributes as we support our soldiers who are away from their families serving to protect us and preserve the freedoms that generation after generation has fought for.

Visit www.hoarpm.com

The teenage Bergquists were invited to attend and be honored yesterday at Shinnyo-En Hawaii’s 10th annual Memorial Day floating lantern ceremony. They were to go to Holy Family Catholic Academy to pick up hundreds of cell phones collected by students and to give phone cards to children of deployed military.

Read more at www.starbulletin.com

Eight hundred hours of talk time. That’s what one Army unit in Iraq will get thanks to a group of Hawaii second graders.

Carson Risdon’s Dad is in Iraq, and everytime the phone rings he hopes it will be his father on the other end.

“I just like my dad calling, it’s really fun I don’t get to talk to him much because theres a web cam thing that won’t work,” Risdon said.

Read the full storty at www.khnl.com

The 2008 New England Innovation Awards “Patriot Award” was presented to Brittany Bergquist and Robbie Bergquist, CellPhonesForSoldiers.com, by SBANE Chairman, Ed Estrowski, at the special gala dinner May 7, 2008. Brittany and Robbie were honored for their outstanding and unselfish service to our fellow countrymen. SBANE is proud to recognize those whose efforts make a difference in our daily lives and contribute toward the sustainability of our programs here and abroad.

Visit www.sbane.org

Recycling Program That Sends Phone Cards to Troops Has Helped Avoid 125 Tons of E-Waste; AT&T’s Support for Program Expands to Add ’Helping Hands’ From a Network of more than 300,000 AT&T Volunteers.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced today that the company will work with Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS) to drive recycling and reduce e-waste through the next year with a goal of doubling the number of cell phones the charity recycles by next Earth Day. CPFS collects and recycles mobile phones and uses the proceeds to buy free phone cards for U.S. military members and their families.

Since Earth Day 2007, CPFS has collected more than 900,000 cell phones for recycling. AT&T and CPFS have pledged to work together to help the charity collect more than 1.8 million devices by Earth Day 2009. AT&T currently supports the charity’s recycling through more than 2,000 AT&T stores in more than 1,100 cities across the U.S. AT&T is expanding that support to include a network of more than 300,000 community volunteers, a national donation drive running through July 2008 and a new online starter kit for donations at www.att.com/recyclewireless.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, e-waste is accumulating three times faster than household trash. Since 2004, CPFS has collected more than 1.25 million mobile phones. The charity’s recycling partner, ReCellular, estimates that this has prevented more than 125 tons of e-waste from entering landfills, including the environmental equivalents of:

* Saving enough energy to power nearly 4,000 U.S. households for a year.
* Avoiding the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as removing more than 2,800 passenger cars from the roads for a year.
* Keeping more than two tons of toxic materials out of landfills.

“With Earth Day and Cell Phones for Soldiers, we’re turning up the volume on cell phone recycling” said Paul Roth, president of Marketing and Sales for AT&T’s wireless unit. “So far this year, our weekly in-store recycling averages are five times what they were in 2007 and 28 times more than the same time in 2006. AT&T is proud to support both of these worthwhile programs”

AT&T Adds New People Power: The AT&T Pioneers
One way AT&T is supporting the recycling challenge is through the added support of the AT&T Pioneers. Beginning Earth Day on April 22, a network of more than 300,000 volunteers will begin helping expand the charity’s cell phone donation drives into communities across the U.S. Roughly 100 new donation locations will be established, and volunteers will work to collect phones in corporate offices and community locations from the days surrounding Earth Day through July 4 to support the environment and to help keep military families connected with free phone cards.

New Free Online Donation Drive Tool Kit
AT&T and CPFS are also launching a new online tool designed to support community groups and help individuals launch and conduct their own donation drives with a new electronic “starter kit” available at www.att.com/recyclewireless. The tool is available to anyone who would like to run a donation drive with CPFS, and it includes environmental tips, planning tools, camera-ready artwork for recycling bins and other relevant materials.

“We’re excited to have the support of the AT&T Pioneers and a new free tool to offer our supporters” said CPFS co-founder Brittany Bergquist. “We run our charity from home, and we rely on volunteer support to collect phones for recycling. Having more helping hands to drive our mission to recycle for the troops - and reduce e-waste - is something that makes a huge impact on our ability to reach people and, in the end, send more free calls to the troops. Having a new free tool that anyone can use is one more way we’re making it simple for people to join us”

Since AT&T launched its support, the company has also donated more than 60,000 prepaid phone cards - valued at more than $500,000 - to CPFS to help the charity connect more military families. In the past two years, AT&T has donated more than $4 million worth of prepaid phone cards to help support U.S. military members and their families. These donations include direct distributions to troops serving in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, South Korea, Japan and Europe. The company also has built 70 calling centers in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.