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For Immediate Release
Contact: Janice Carey
410.612.2360
jcarey@apgfcu.com

APGFCU Collects more than 500 phones to help soldiers call home

Jan. 7, 2010 -- Thanks to the generous donations of its member-owners, Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Credit Union (APGFCU) collected more than 500 wireless phones, chargers, and accessories for Cell Phones for Soldiers.  The credit union will continue to collect old cell phones, even through the initial drive has ended.

Donated items will be recycled into 22,000 minutes of prepaid calling cards and distributed to U.S. soldiers overseas, enabling them to call home for free.   

The donated phones are sent to ReCellular, which pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each phone – enough to provide an hour of talk time to soldiers abroad.

As part of its Military Appreciation Month initiative in May, APGFCU organized the drive as a way to show appreciation for the military men and women who have sacrificed daily contact with their own families to serve in the U.S. armed forces.  Because of its success, the drive is expected to continue through 2010.

Cell Phones for Soldiers is a national, non-profit organization with local collection sites in Harford and Cecil Counties.  Founded in 2004, the program has raised almost $2 million in donations and distributed more than 500,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.  For more information, visit www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com.

Recycling wireless devices also helps reduce environmental impact and prevent pollution.  Useful materials such as glass, copper, aluminum, plastic and other components can be extracted and reused. 

Local residents can support the collection drive by donating a wireless phone at any one of APGFCU’s nine branches in Harford and Cecil Counties.  For more information, call 410-272-4000, and press four.