This Project Is a Calling: Scott Schwitzer Helps Military Connect With Families

In this day and age, not much thought goes into making a phone call—unless you’re active military. That’s why La Mesa financial adviser Scott Schwitzer is collecting old cell phones, which he gives to Cell Phones for Soldiers.

This group provides calling cards to service members with the recycling proceeds.

“It’s just something we want to do here in the community,” said Schwitzer, who works at Edward Jones on La Mesa Boulevard. “When the box is full, we’ll turn it in to the organization.”

According to Sarah Merrit, a consultant for Cell Phones for Soldiers, most military bases allow only 10-minute phone calls, which makes for a pretty rushed conversation.

“Most folks don’t really get to have a quality conversation in 10 minutes,” she said. “Each calling card that’s distributed is about 50 minutes.”

She says one cell phone works out to about one calling card. On average, they collect around 30,000 a month nationally. And while they often get donations of Blackberries and iPhones, they sometimes come across some pretty unique devices, too.

“We get box cell phones, like the ones from the ’80s and ’90s,” Merritt said. “It’s kind of crazy; we get a whole variety of stuff.”

But no matter what gets dropped off, Merritt says the rewarding part is bringing families together.

“It’s just really amazing to be able to provide that communication home that our soldiers don’t have,” she said. “It’s very humbling.”