Cell Phones for Soldiers founders Brittany and Robby Bergquist.
Fleishman-Hillard presented AT&T with the idea of supporting Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS) to help support AT&T’s mission of connecting military families with loved ones. CPFS was a perfect fit because the nonprofit collects and recycles used wireless phones and uses the proceeds to purchase prepaid phone cards for soldiers overseas. AT&T responded enthusiastically to the idea of working with CPFS, giving the charity more than $500,000 in free phone cards for the troops and providing more than 1,800 AT&T stores as donation sites. The “CBS Evening News,” MSNBC, and The New York Times, among others, covered this support. In order to achieve the year-end partnership goal of $1.4 million — enough for a 20-minute call home for every soldier based in Iraq — Fleishman-Hillard and AT&T added to the ongoing campaign with a holiday donation drive, and AT&T awarded Brittany and Robbie Bergquist, the teenage founders of CPFS, each with a $100,000 college scholarship. The agency secured several key placements for AT&T and the teens, including an interview by Barbara Walters on ABC’s highly rated “The View” and an exclusive feature in USA Today and an appearance on “Good Morning America.” To date, the program has generated more than 67 million media impressions. The charity estimates that enhanced awareness has helped generate 30 times more recycling and 114 percent more in funds given to CPFS compared with the previous year.
