Senior Life Center collecting old cell phones for recycling

GAINESVILLE - If you have an old cell phone collecting dust in a drawer, the Senior Life Center in Gainesville can use it.

Even though the recycling of old cell phones is an ongoing project for the facility, Senior Life Center Manager Merry Howard said they have to collect 50 at a time to be able to take advantage of the program. Howard said the phones, some of which can fetch up to $30, are mailed to the National Council on Aging, which coordinates the recycling program for senior centers all over the country.

The money, said Howard, is used for a variety of purposes.

"We've bought computers with it for our computer lab or we've sponsored some of our senior citizens that like to take water aerobics at the Frances Meadows Center...different things like that."

Howard does suggest removing the SIM card from the cell phone before donating it, although she said the phones are shredded, so privacy of the donor is protected.

She said phones can be dropped off at the Senior Life Center on Prior Street in Gainesville Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.