Seniors turning trash into cash
By Julie Stevens
C & G Staff Writer
Cellular phone companies upgrade their models on an almost regular basis.
This leaves users holding onto idle phones, and the thought of one sitting at the bottom of a garbage can, possibly leaking toxins into the environment, is disheartening for some seniors in St. Clair Shores.
That’s why the Senior Center of the Shores, a 501c3 non-profit volunteer group from the St. Clair Shores Senior Activities Center, will be collecting those unused communication devices for the next three months.
Senior Center of the Shores member Jean Thibeault, who is also the assistant coordinator at the senior center, said that no cash contribution is necessary during the donation drive that started Feb. 1.
“Just cell phones and all of the equipment that goes with it, if they still have it,” she said, referring to the need for batteries and chargers.
The donated cellular phones will then be handed over to the American Cellular Donation Organization, a nonprofit organization based in Warren.
ACDO teams up with individuals, businesses and organizations that want to start a cell phone collection campaign as a means of both raising funds and “ensuring that landfills don’t get polluted by the toxins found in the phones, their batteries and chargers,” according to Vincent Serio, ACDO’s founder and CEO.
Serio said his company converts the working cell phones that are donated into charitable cash by selling them to third world countries, small retailers, and other groups in the market for refurbished wireless phones. Non-working cell phones are recycled according to all EPA guidelines.
“Currently, there are over 500 million idle used cell phones in the United States, and that figure grows by about 80 million each year as users strive to keep up with technology’s latest advances,” Serio said.
According to senior center Coordinator Carole Kline, the seniors’ campaign will bring funds that will help improve and expand services offered at the center.
Kline said that is the main goal of the group of volunteers, which originally started the senior center which became a non-profit organization in 1984. A majority of fund-raisers include dinners and raffles.
She said that a recent fund-raiser took in $1,500 and allowed the center to purchase a new audio system that included speakers and a wireless microphone. Most recently, money raised enabled them to provide the center with a new digital camera, Kline said.
“This is all stuff that I can’t budget for,” Kline added. “And we never had an adequate system.”
Thibeault said that since 1999, millions of dollars have been raised from the collecting, refurbishing and reselling of used cell phones.
A large portion of the money collected is directed toward charitable causes.
The Senior Center of the Shores is a group of 12 appointed senior citizens who are identified for their dedication to volunteering in various activities at the center, Kline said. She said each serves in the group for three years.
Kline said the cell phone donations will be accepted at the St. Clair Shores Senior Activities Center located at 20000 Stephens.
Serio adds that because of the obvious abundance of unused cell phones, there is an ample opportunity for groups to augment their fundraising efforts while also cleaning up the environment.
“It’s really a win/win situation,” Serio said.
Those interested in donating — but to no particular organization — may visit www.cellulardonation.org/zip.asp and input their zip code for a drop-off location.
Those who want to start their own cell phone collection campaign can call (888) 863-2355 or go to www.cellulardonation.org