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Prior to the beginning of our Second Regional Meeting held on Sunday, November 16, 2008 at the Randolph Lodge, we had two special guests address those in attendance.

 Brittany and Robbie Bergquist from Norwell, MA spoke on a program that they founded in April of 2004. Cell Phones for Soldiers was created to assist US Soldiers who are stationed overseas to call home.

Old cell phones are turned into prepaid calling cards. One cell phone provides one hour of talk time. Since they started the program with $21.00 of their own money, Brittany and Robbie have raised approximately $2.5 million dollars in donations, which has allowed them to purchase over 500,000 cards.

We have pledged our support to Brittany and Robbie and will partner with them in this most worthwhile endeavor. Details are still being worked out, but as of now we will begin to collect old cell phones. This project will be administered under the direction of the Veterans Services Committee. Committee Chairman Charlie Kay will be forming a sub committee to handle the collection of the cell phones. For now, any member that wishes to donate an old cell phone can do so by contacting any State Officer or District Deputy. Once a permanent committee has been established, all Lodges will be notified.

I have set a goal to collect 500 old cell phones before December 31, 2008 and 500 per month after that. With 45,000 members, I certainly believe that we can achieve this goal. Please pass on this information to your neighbors, co-workers, friends and family members so that they can assist us as well.

Fraternally,

Bill Reilly III

President