UAW, AT&T and WNY Community Help "Cell Phones For Soldiers' to Provide Troops and Veterans with Free Calls Home

Press Release

As we prepare to celebrate the 4th of July Holiday, local UAW members and its Veterans Committee teamed up with AT&T to help collect more than 1,500 gently-used mobile devices over the past three month that will now be donated to Cell Phones For Soldiers. The timing of the donation to coincide with America's celebration of the 240 years of freedom is a fitting tribute to recognize and celebrate our active military and veterans that have served to protect the country's and its citizens freedom.

By donating these cell phones and mobile devices to Cell Phones For Soldiers, a joint effort by UAW members, the UAW Veterans Committee, AT&T and the greater Western New York community, we will provide US troops and injured veterans more than 75,000 minutes of free calling time to their loved ones back home. Proceeds from the recycled devices will be used to buy long distance calling cards for troops at home and abroad. Although the military landscape is ever changing, as many as 200,000 troops are serving in the U.S. military around the world. By donating to Cell Phones For Soldiers, the UAW, AT&T and the WNY Community is providing a valuable lifeline for America's bravest men and women.

The collection drive -- which began in April and lasted until early June -- spanned all of WNY, where the public was able to drop off any used mobile devices at collection bins in AT&T stores throughout the region, and UAW members were able to collect devices from friends and family and donate them in a collection bin in one of the 14 local manufacturing facilities that employees an UAW workforce or at their local's union hall.

For every donated phone valued at just $5, Cell Phones For Soldiers is able to provide 2 ½ hours of free talk time to deployed troops through calling cards.

Due to the overwhelming success of the collection drive and the number of deployed troops and needy veterans that it will positively impact by connecting them with their loved ones, Congressman Brian Higgins and New York State Senator Tim Kennedy announced that they have asked both the UAW and AT&T to join them in extending the collection of used mobile devices throughout the community until Labor Day and challenged Western New Yorkers to help double the number of phones already collected to date.

Beginning today and lasting until Labor Day residents can donate their unneeded phones and/or tablets at the following locations:

All AT&T Stores in WNY including: 5724 S. Transit Rd., Lockport / 8292 Niagara Falls Blvd., Niagara Falls / Niagara Falls Blvd., Tonawanda / 1741 Sheridan Dr., Tonawanda / 8200 Transit Rd., Amherst / Galleria Mall, 1 Walden Galleria Dr., 2nd Floor, Cheektowaga / 4900 Transit Rd., Depew / 3505 Amelia Dr., Orchard Park
All UAW union halls: UAW 774, 2939 Niagara St., Buffalo / UAW 686, 524 Walnut St., Lockport / UAW 55 and UAW 3300, 35 George Karl Blvd., Amherst / UAW 897, 3796 Lakeshore Rd., Buffalo
Senator Kennedy's District Office: 2239 South Park Ave, Buffalo, NY
Larkin at Exchange Building Lobby, 726 Exchange Street, Buffalo, NY 14210

"The comfort of a call home is a priceless gift to troops selflessly sacrificing their personal time to serve our nation," said Congressman Higgins. "We applaud the UAW and AT&T for their leadership in the Cell Phones for Soldiers program, we are encouraged by the great community support this effort has already received and know extension of the program will help us reach even more of our troops through the generosity of Western New Yorkers."

"As our troops bravely work to protect our nation and our freedom, we need to ensure we're doing everything we can to support and connect them with their families back here at home," said Senator Kennedy. "After long days of sacrifice, they often look forward to spending fleeting time catching up with husbands, wives, kids and family, and we all know how invaluable those moments can truly be, especially when overseas. I'm proud to partner with Congressman Higgins, the UAW and AT&T to extend the "Cell Phones for Soldiers' drive throughout the summer, and I encourage folks who are looking for ways to thank our military families to get involved and give back."

"This is such a great opportunity to help our veterans reach out to family and friends wherever they may be stationed, commented Terry Dittes, director UAW Region 9. "We here in Region 9 are especially proud of our Region 9 Veterans Committee for all their great work, but when teamed up with AT&T, the UAW membership and the great community of Western New York, it only brings great results for our honorable Veterans and deployed troops."

"At AT&T we provide solutions to better connect the world, but nothing brings us more pride and joy than being able to connect our active military and veterans with their loved ones," said Marissa Shorenstein, New York President, AT&T. "I applaud the UAW leading this union and community wide collection drive with AT&T and I thank everyone that donated a mobile device. Their generosity will make the 4th of July holiday more enjoyable for some of America's bravest men and women and their families. AT&T looks forward to collaborating with Congressman Higgins, Senator Kennedy and the UAW on expanding upon our already impressive results."

"As a proud veteran I know that for deployed service members, regular communication is extremely important because it can raise morale and help families cope with separation," said Guy Newell, president UAW local 774 and chairman of the UAW Veterans Committee for Region 9. "While letters and emails are a good line of communication, there is no substitute for speaking to your family over the phone. On behalf of the UAW Veterans Committee I would like to thank our patriotic UAW membership and AT&T for making this possible so our men and women in uniform can keep in touch with loved ones."

Cell Phones For Soldiers was founded in 2004 by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist at the ages of 12 and 13 after they heard the story of a local soldier with a cell phone bill that totaled nearly $8,000. They decided to help this one man with just $21 of their own money and Cell Phones For Soldiers was born from there.

The charity has since provided more than 216 million minutes of free talk time to servicemen and women stationed around the world through its calling card program, Minutes That Matter. Funds raised from the recycling of cellular phones are used to purchase prepaid international calling cards. On average, Cell Phones For Soldiers distributes 1,500 calling cards each week to bases around the world, care package programs, deployment ceremonies and VA hospitals.

"Each year we have been humbled by the number of people and organizations like AT&T, UAW, Congressman Higgins and Senator Kennedy that take part in this important initiative to support our military members," said Cell Phones For Soldiers co-founder Robbie Bergquist. "The communication gap between those serving and their families is a crucial need that Cell Phones For Soldiers is committed to addressing for years to come."

Since 2004, more than 11.7 million phones have been recycled or repurposed. Approximately half of the phones processed are reconditioned and reused. Phones and components that cannot be refurbished are dismantled and responsibly 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

To prepare your mobile phone for donation here are some tips on how to erase all personal information that may be stored on it to protect your privacy:

Remove your phone's SIM card Erase your address book, photos, messages and other stored information
Restore the device factory settings on your device
For instructions on how to do this, go to owner's manual or to the manufacturers' web site

AT&T's ongoing support of Cell Phones For Soldiers stems from the company's longstanding mission to connect members of the nation's military and veterans with their loved ones back home. AT&T has proudly supported Cell Phones For Soldiers' "Helping Heroes Home" initiative, a program designed to provide emergency funds for returning veterans to alleviate communication challenges as well as physical, emotional and assimilation hardships. Additionally, AT&T and its customers have donated more than $4.6 million and distributed more than 600,000 AT&T prepaid calling cards to service men and women overseas since 2007.

For more information, please visit www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com.

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