Cell phone drive to benefit food banks

COEUR d'ALENE - Ben and Peggy Davis want to do a little payback to area food banks.

The Athol couple is leading a drive to collect old cell phones and ink jet cartridges that will be recycled and turned into cash.

"We needed help a few years ago with the food bank," Ben Davis said. "This is just our way of giving back to the community."

Last year's drive saw Lake City High School students contribute 427 cell phones to highlight an effort that raised about $400.

This year, organizers are hoping to top 1,000, with a goal of donating more money to food banks in Spirit Lake, Athol, Coeur d'Alene and Rathdrum. Four high schools, Timberlake, LCHS, Coeur d'Alene High and Lakeland, are collecting phones, and collection boxes are at several sites in the communities.

The phones are sent to a recycling company back east. Those that can still be used are distributed to women's shelters.

Ben and Peggy led a similar cell phone drive in Cedar City, Utah, for two years before moving to North Idaho.

Community support for the project has been strong each year.

"We enjoyed it so much last year, we thought, 'Let's expand it,'" Peggy said. "The kids loved it at the high school. They always love a challenge."

The drive will continue until the year's end.

Collection sites in Rathdrum include Lakeland High, Super 1 Foods, Panhandle State Bank, Rathdrum food bank, the Conoco station, and Stein's grocery store. Collections boxes are also at City Hall in Hayden, the Elks Lodge on Prairie, the Community Action Partnership Food Bank, Grocery Outlet, Triple Play and Farm Bureau in Dalton Gardens.