PUBLIC DONATES MORE THAN 1,100 MOBILE PHONES TO SENATOR DEFRANCISCO’S SEVENTH ANNUAL CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS COLLECTION DRIVE

State Senator John A. DeFrancisco is pleased to announce that his 2014-15 Cell Phones For Soldiers collection drive has resulted in more than 1,100 mobile phones. Senator DeFrancisco would like to thank the Central New York community for again answering the call to help support this important cause! 

Cell Phones For Soldiers, a national nonprofit organization, recycles gently-used mobile phones and uses the recycling proceeds to purchase international calling cards for our deployed troops. Currently, one recycled phone can provide an average of 30 minutes of FREE talk time. That means the 1,100 phones that were collected this season will give troops approximately 33,000 minutes of free calling card time.

Over the past seven years, Senator DeFrancisco’s collection drive has netted more than 8,500 mobile phones, with more than 20 shopping centers, libraries, schools, and community organizations serving, year after year, as public collection sites.

As a veteran of the United States Air Force, Senator DeFrancisco is extremely grateful for all those who continue to support our brave servicemen and women by donating to Cell Phones For Soldiers.  Senator DeFrancisco is pictured at his District Office in Syracuse, sorting through hundreds of mobile phones that were donated by the public. These gently-used phones will be recycled, so Cell Phones For Soldiers can purchase calling cards for deployed United States military members with the proceeds.