On February 1, 2013, State Senator John A. DeFrancisco officially wrapped up his 2013 Cell Phones for Soldiers collection drive to benefit our deployed soldiers. Senator DeFrancisco announced that his office collected 1,500 donated cell phones this season- a record amount! These phones will provide nearly 6,000 hours of free talk time to soldiers stationed around the world.
Senator DeFranciso is grateful to the Central New York community for its overwhelming support. He also thanks all of the local businesses, schools and organizations that served as his designated collection sites. These sites were expanded into Auburn, Fayetteville and Manlius this season:
Malls - Great Northern Mall, Fingerlakes Mall, ShoppingTown Mall
Libraries - Baldwinsville Library, Fairmount Library, Fayetteville Free Library, Liverpool Public Library, Onondaga County
Public Library, Northern Onondaga Public Library, Auburn's Seymour Library, Skaneateles Library, and Solvay Library
Colleges/ Universities- Le Moyne College, Onondaga Community College and Syracuse University
Army Recruiting Stations - Offices in Auburn, Mattydale and Syracuse
Cell Phones for Soldiers will recycle these gently-used phones and use money from the recycling to buy international pre-paid calling cards for soldiers serving overseas. Each average recycled phone is worth two, hour-long calling cards. This is free talk time to help soldiers stay in touch with their loved ones back home.
Several public schools also collected and donated phones to the Senator's drive. Thank you to all those who donated to this great cause!
