by Jehan Gordon, State Rep., 92nd Dist.

Oftentimes while going through our junk drawers we find things we don’t remember owning.  Commonly one of these items is an old, unused cell phone that we just don’t know what to do with.  For the next month, my office has the perfect way to get rid of old cell phones, as we host our 3rd Annual Cell Phone for Soldiers Drive.

I am partnering with renowned organization Cell Phones for Soldiers, who will purchase all of the donated phones and utilize the proceeds from the sale of refurbished phones to buy prepaid calling cards for our soldiers serving around the world.  This allows our military personnel to stay in touch with their families while they are answering the call of duty.  The program has already been able to distribute over 500,000 calling cards, and I look forward to helping to add to that total.

I hope that you take a few moments of your time to drop off any used and discarded cell phones to help those who are protecting us.  These phones can be dropped off at any of our three convenient drop-off locations: my district office at 300 E. War Memorial Drive, Suite 303, in Peoria; West Peoria City Hall at 2506 W. Rohmann Ave.; or the Limestone Township Building at 1501 W. Garfield Ave. in Bartonville. If you have any questions, please call my office at 681-1992.