Teens Collect Cellphones, Send 100,000 Calling Cards to U.S. Soldiers in Iraq
Thursday, August 23, 2007
How much money is in your piggy bank? Would you give it away to someone who needed it? Brittany and Robbie Bergquist did. They turned $21 and an idea into a million-dollar charity.
One night three years ago Brittany and Robbie were watching the news at home in Norwell, Massachusetts. The kids, then 13 and 12, heard a story about an American soldier in Iraq who was struggling to pay his $8,000 cellphone bill.
They were surprised that the government didn't help him. So the kids pooled their money and some extra from friends and opened a bank account of $21 to help the soldier.
Much to their surprise, bank employees contributed $500 to the cause. "That really jump-started our program," says Robbie, now 15.
From $21 to $1.2 Million!
The Bergquist teens have now raised $1.2 million for their charity, Cell Phones for Soldiers, and have sent more than 100,000 phone calling cards to soldiers in Iraq. (Government rules prohibit sending cellphones directly.)
"We're giving Americans a way to help the troops," says Robbie.
The effort started small: The kids raised money with car washes and bake sales. But after they bought an ad in a local paper, reporters began to call. The next thing they knew, camera crews from CNN, NBC, CBS and Fox were coming to their house to interview them.
"It was nerve-racking," Brittany, 16, says of the first interviews she and her brother gave.
The two decided they needed more ways to raise money. They teamed with ReCellular, a company that recycles cellphones. Brittany and Robbie started collecting phones donated from around the country and selling them to ReCellular.
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
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