UCO Students Collect Cell Phones For St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

<p>For many people, cell phones are part of their everyday lives. A group of students from the University of Central Oklahoma are now using these popular devices to help children across Oklahoma City and the nation.</p>

Thursday, March 17th 2016, 7:07 pm

By: News 9


For many people, cell phones are part of their everyday lives. A group of students from the University of Central Oklahoma are now using these popular devices to help children across Oklahoma City and the nation.

Paul Henry is a senior at UCO. He and about 10 classmates are taking on this special project this semester. They are reaching out to area businesses and churches to see if they will display a collection box.

“I would love to just get as many people involved and excited about it as possible,” said Henry. “We’ve got a lot of boxes in our hands.”

The goal is to fill the boxes with unused cell phones, tablets, laptops, video games or game systems. At the end of the semester, Henry and his classmates will collect all of the donations and bring it to Charity Gadgets, a local organization co-founded by Jason Mills and Matt Devane.

Mills will then value each item and give 100 percent of the trade-in value to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“So say an iPhone 5 trade-in value from a customer to us is $80. We will give St. Jude the whole, full $80,” said Mills.

Mills says it is a win-win situation. Students get hands-on business experience, his company grows, fewer cell phones go to the landfill, and most of all patients at St. Jude get a helping hand.

“Churches, businesses, anybody that wants to participate can.”

As for Henry, he and his classmates were able to see the impact this project would make on a child’s future.

“We met a family here in Yukon that brought their child in and we were able to speak to him. He was only 7 years old,” said Henry. “To speak to their family, to see how much St. Jude really does.”

If your business or organization that wants to help Henry and his classmates, his email is whenry@uco.edu.

For information on Charity Gadgets, visit www.charitygadgets.com

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