Local business renews effort to assist troops

More than 700 phones are amassed in the back of the funeral home’s Smart Car, which was used to advertise the initiative, before being shipped to Cell Phones for Soldiers. EAST BRUNSWICK — Brian Kulbacki estimates the community has donated some 1,000 cell phones and 59,640 minutes of talk time for U.S. troops through Brunswick Memorial Home for Cell Phones for Soldiers.

While these may be large numbers to many, to the staff at the funeral home, they’re not large enough.

“We had set out to donate 1,000 phones by Memorial Day 2011 and fell just shy of that goal,” said Peter Kulbacki, manager of the firm, “but the amount of minutes the community’s donations earned far exceeded our expectations, and that number doesn’t account for the boxes upon boxes of accessories we shipped. I could not be happier.”

Cell Phones for Soldiers takes each shipment from Brunswick Memorial Home and recycles the devices, as well as any accessories that the firm receives with the donations, and turns that money directly into talk time for U.S. soldiers deployed away from their families. While recently the bulk of the donations went overseas, troops across the states were beneficiaries of the donations throughout the past year.

Brian Kulbacki said that individuals and families from throughout central New Jersey have contributed to the campaign. He added that they even received contributions from out-of-state individuals who heard about Brunswick Memorial Home’s effort from others who had seen the funeral home’s Smart Car promoting the effort on the streets.

The firm would like to donate another 1,000 phones by Memorial Day 2012, and sees it as a much more realistic goal.

“Around this time of year, people are upgrading and tossing aside old phones, or they received something shiny and new as a Christmas gift. Instead of letting it gather dust, we’d like to encourage them to take a few minutes out of their day and drop it off here, no strings attached, and help a soldier out,” said Brian Kulbacki.

The funeral home on Cranbury Road will continue to accept used cellphones, and donations can be dropped off during regular business hours, or left in the drop box afterward.

More information can be found at www.BrunswickMemorialHome.com or by calling 732-254-9393.