Sister and brother Brittany and Robbie Bergquist created their program, Cell Phones for Soldiers, in 2004 when they were 13 and 12 years old, respectively.
They learned of a soldier who had run up a cell phone bill of nearly $8,000 calling home to his family. Having a cousin serving in Iraq at the time made them realize the importance of keeping in touch with loved ones.

They immediately went upstairs to get their piggy banks and announced that they were going to pay the soldier's phone bill. When they brought their $21 to the bank, the manager was so impressed, he kicked in an additional $500. This motivated the siblings to continue their project. They held car wash and bake sale fundraisers and then came up with the idea of recycling used cell phones to raise even more money.

With help from volunteers, they set up drop-off sites across the United States and used proceeds from recycling to buy prepaid phone cards for troops overseas.

To date, they have raised nearly $1 million and donated over 450,000 phone cards equaling 2.5 million minutes of talk time. They have processed nearly 20,000 used cell phones, batteries, and accessories monthly, which helps the troops – and is good for the environment.

Brittany and Robbie devote at least 20 hours per week to their program with the help of their web site, http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/. Military support groups throughout the U.S. contact Brittany and Robbie for free phone cards for inclusion in their care packages. There are now over 6,000 Cell Phones for Soldiers drop off sites in the United States and in countries throughout the world.

This year, Brittany convinced AT&T to donate thousands of phone cards and set up drop off locations at 1,800 of their stores nationwide. The Bergquists' dream is one day to supply the troops with satellite phones, even in the most remote areas of the world, so loved ones are still just a phone call away.