The Arizona Builders’ Alliance participated in a cell phone drive to donate minutes to soldiers in Afghanistan. The goal of collecting 1,000 cellphones was exceeded with member donations in excess of 1,300 phones!  

The phones were donated to Cellphones for Soldiers. Cellphones for Soldiers collects used cell phones and sells them to recycling firms, and uses that money to buy calling cards for soldiers overseas.  For every two phones collected, one-hour of calling time was donated. 

 

Because of the volume of phones collected by ABA members:

• More than 650 hours of calling time for soldiers overseas have been created. 
• More than 39,000 minutes of calling time for soldiers overseas have been created.

 

Companies that collected more than 50 phones each or more than 25-hours of calling time, include: 

• Corbins Electric
• McCarthy
• Sundt Construction
• Caliente Construction
• Schuff Steel Management
• FCI Constructors
• Comfort Systems
• Barker Morrissey 

Corbins Electric donated over 300 phones, which created more than 175-hours of calling time for soldiers.

In addition, Kerwin Kortman of Kortman Electric was instrumental in the success of the cell phone drive, being the liaison between the ABA and Cellphones for Soldiers, promoting, sorting, and packing the phones for delivery to Cellphones for Soldiers, personally. 

The ABA collects cell phones for the drive all year-long, with a special emphasis on collection between February-May.

The cell phone drive was discovered and is managed by the ABA’s Community Service Board, chaired by Josh Marriott of McCarthy Building Companies. The Community Service Board also manages the ABA's backpack drive and toy drive.

The ABA exists for the purpose of advancing the productivity and profitability of our members and the construction industry.  The ABA is an affiliation of the Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc. and the Associated General Contractors of America. Celebrating its 20th year in 2014, the ABA is proud to service the construction industry through advocacy, education, and networking opportunities in the state of Arizona.