C&K Market, Inc. PARTNERED WITH CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS TO PROVIDE TROOPS WITH FREE CALLS HOME

During the month of April, Ray’s Food Place, Shop Smart and C&K Market stores served as drop off locations for old cell phones to be turned into free minutes for soldiers to talk to their loved ones

Imagine being thousands of miles from home in an area that is culturally different than the hometown where you grew up, or on a base within the United States but wanting to feel closer to home.  Wouldn’t you cherish just a few minutes to talk with someone close to you?  Many of our military men and women are currently in that situation.  Others are confined to hospital beds as they recuperate from injuries sustained while defending our freedom.  The Cell Phones for Soldiers organization, founded by Brittany and Robbie Bergquist of Norwell, MA, made it their mission to provide free calls home to US armed forces personnel.

In support of Cell Phones for Soldiers, the C&K Market, Inc. banner of stores partnered with Cell Phones for Soldiers, to help reach their 2012 goal of providing 750,000 free communication tools to troops stationed around the world.  Over the month of April the C&K Market, Inc. banner of stores collected 1,258 cell phones, which allowed the organization to provide over 75,480 minutes for service personnel to talk with their loved ones back home. “It’s pretty exciting to participate in such a great program that benefits our troops and their families,” says Alan Nidiffer, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of C&K Market, Inc.

 About Cell Phone for Soldiers

Cell Phones for Soldiers collects and recycles gently-used cell phones. Donated devices are sent to Michigan-based ReCellular where they are either recycled or refurbished and sold. Funds raised are used to purchase prepaid international calling cards for military families dealing with deployment. To date more than 150 million minutes have helped families stay connected.

About C&K Market, Inc.

C&K Market, Inc. is a family owned company based in Brookings, Oregon.  The company operates 62 grocery stores and 13 pharmacies under the banners of Ray’s Food Place, Shop Smart, C&K Market and Pharmacy Express. C&K was recently ranked No. 4 by the Portland Business Journal on the 2011 list of Healthiest Employers in Oregon among companies with over 1,500 employees.  More information can be found at www.ckmarket.com.