U.S. Cellular Reveals More Calling All Communities Enhancements
2011 Campaign to Feature Bigger Cash Prize and Potential Rewards for School Supporters
CHICAGO, Aug. 15, 2011 – U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) today announced exciting enhancements to its third annual $1 millionCalling All Communities campaign. In May, the company revealed that it was increasing the number of winners from 10 to 18 schools in the community-driven campaign that awards thousands of dollars to schools to enhance learning opportunities for students across the country. Today, U.S. Cellular announced that the school garnering the most votes will receive $150,000. The next 17 runners up will receive $50,000 each. Schools won’t be the only winners in this year’s campaign. Supporters will have more opportunities to vote and enjoy some cool rewards.
Between Sept. 9 and Oct. 6, anyone 18 years or older can visit any U.S. Cellular store and ask an associate for a code to vote for their favorite school at uscellular.com. Each online voting code gives people the opportunity to vote once daily until the campaign ends. The voting cards will feature a peel-off that gives thousands of lucky supporters a chance to cast two votes a day or be one of 18 people to win one year of free U.S. Cellular wireless service. In addition, 2,000 randomly-selected voters will be awarded a $25 U.S. Cellular debit card simply for supporting their schools.
“We wanted to reward more schools with much-needed funds and the people who work so hard to support them,” said Carter Elenz, executive vice president of sales and customer service for U.S. Cellular. “Each year, we’re amazed at the power of a few determined individuals who get the ball rolling in their community and the creativity of large and small schools across the country as they rally to win.”
Public and private schools, kindergarten through high school, are eligible to win a share of $1 million that can be used any way the schools see fit. Past champions have said that while the money was an educational boon for the schools, the campaign to win stimulated an equally rewarding and lasting sense of community.
“Winning the money was great, but the way our community came together and got involved was priceless,” said Greg Clark, principal ofSeymourHigh SchoolinSeymour,Tenn.The 2010 champion shared its winnings with other schools in theSeymourSchool District.SeymourHigh Schoolused $40,000 for technology upgrades and gave $20,000 to the middle, intermediate and primary schools that channeled their support to the high school to help it win.
No purchase is necessary and you don’t have to be a U.S. Cellular customer to vote. The winning schools will be announced in October and November. For more information about U.S. Cellular, its cutting-edge phone lineup, high-speed nationwide network andCalling All Communities, visit uscellular.com or U.S. Cellular’s Facebook page.
About Calling All Communities
SinceCalling All Communitiesbegan in 2008, U.S. Cellular has awarded $2 million to 20 schools throughout the nation. Voter participation in the 2010Calling All Communitiescampaign reached 430,000 votes cast for 6,800-plus schools. Last year’s champions included six public and four private schools from small rural and large urban communities inIowa,Illinois,Oregon,Washington,Missouri,TennesseeandNorth Carolina. PastCalling All Communitieschampions have used their winnings in a variety of ways from outfitting their classrooms with new computers, Promethean boards or other technological advancements to renovating gymnasiums, school kitchens and science labs. Others have used the donation to make building infrastructure improvements, such as replacing outdated electrical systems. A few even paid portions of their proceeds forward, giving college scholarships to graduating students and donating to non-profits around the world.
LaTrina Shepherd, U.S. Cellular, latrina.shepherd@uscellular.com, 773-355-3364
About U.S. Cellular
U.S. Cellular rewards its customers with unmatched benefits and industry-leading innovations designed to elevate the customer experience. The Chicago-based carrier has a strong line-up of cutting-edge devices that are all backed by its high-speed nationwide network that has the highest call quality of any national carrier. U.S. Cellular was named a J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Customer Service Champion and received PC Magazine’s 2011 Readers’ Choice Award. To learn more about U.S. Cellular, visit one of its retail stores or uscellular.com. To get the latest news, promos and videos, connect with U.S. Cellular on Facebook.com/uscellular, Twitter.com/uscellular and YouTube.com/uscellularcorp.