SEGUIN - Christmas has come and gone for another year.

People are starting to go through all of their treasures and sorting through items that can be thrown away or donated.

"I probably have about three or four cell phones sitting in my closet because when you upgrade nobody wants them," said Bob Unfried, owner of the local Liberty Tax Service office.

Unfried, along with other Liberty Tax Service centers, are a site where people can recycle old cell phones for a good cause.

"I didn't know anything about Cell Phones for Soldiers and Liberty is one of the big sponsors of the program," he said. "This is one of the many things that our company supports and I can't find where this has been done here in Seguin. I thought we would kick it off here."

Cell Phones For Soldiers is a non-profit organization that takes used, unwanted cell phones and sells them to buy calling cards for soldiers who are deployed overseas, Unfried said.

"What will happen is we take the phones in and send them to a central collection site, then from there they are sold to remanufacturers. From there they are either fixed up to be resold or they junk them. The organization gets the money from selling these used phones and the money is used to buy calling cards. Approximately 12,000 calling cards are mailed each week."

Having been a parent of a soldier who was deployed, Unfried said he knows how difficult is it for soldiers to call home  - especially when they have a spouse and children at home.

"Just calling home in country, you have cell phones and there is not much charge for minutes," he said. "But (our son) was deployed five times overseas in his eight years of service, so getting a phone call home was a big deal. In some cases if you have a decent connection with Skype you can make a phone call but a lot of these places don't have internet."

Giving soldiers a chance to stay connected to their families while deployed helps keep them a part of the family, Unfried said.

"It's so difficult for these soldiers to assimilate back into their families and it is important for them to maintain contact with them," he said. "They are away from home, six months to a year, so maintaining that contact is vital."

Receiving a phone call from their son was truly a gift, Unfried said.

"Getting a call home from him was really special when he was deployed. It would be 2 o'clock in the morning but you were glad to get it," he said.

Unfried said the only cost to participate is a few minutes.

"You can bring in basically a discard and turn it in to something valuable for the soldiers," he said. "Any individual that may not want to drive into town can go to the website and print a prepaid shipping label and ship it off yourself."

Monetary donations are accepted through the organizations website cellphonesforsoldiers.com .

Cell Phones For Soldiers was started by a pair of teenagers in 2004 with $21 and has grown in to a large family-run non-profit organization, that includes corporate sponsorship.

"It's one of those programs there is no reason not to participate," he said. "It supports our troops and it doesn't cost you anything, except a little bit of your time to drop it off."

Liberty Tax Service is located in Crossroads Shopping Center near Radio Shack and Little Caesars.