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Hours Add Up to Free Minutes
Robbie and Brittany Bergquist sort donated cellphones, which they sell to help fund their effort to help soldiers stay connected to home.
(Family Photo)
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Presidents and Parades
Working around school activities such as Brittany's softball practices and Robbie's soccer games, they spend two to three hours a day sorting phones and labeling envelopes. There is little or no time for TV and video games.
The teens also are raising money to give cellphone minutes to military personnel at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.
Last year, Brittany was invited to the White House as part of a group, America Supports You, that helps service members. She got to meet President George W. Bush. It was "absolutely amazing," she says. "I was so nervous," but "he was really funny."
This year, she and Robbie rode in the July 4 parade in Washington, waving to the crowd along Constitution Avenue.
The Cell Phones for Soldiers project has taught the two teens about determination and focusing on a goal. "Even the smallest idea can grow into something huge," Brittany says. "If you have an idea, put it out there -- because you don't know where it will go."
-- Moira E. McLaughlin
