Panera Bread and Allegheny County to exchange cookies for troops’ phone cards

If you’re good to others, I’ll give you a cookie.

More accurately, if you donate an… If you’re good to others, I’ll give you a cookie.

More accurately, if you donate an international phone card to servicemen overseas, Panera Bread will give you a cookie.

Panera Bread partnered with Allegheny County for its sixth annual phone card drive benefiting military personnel who hail from Western Pennsylvania.

People can drop off phone cards at any of Pittsburgh’s 26 Panera Bread locations.

The phone cards will be distributed among the 171st Air Refueling Wing, 911th Airlift Wing and 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command of the Army Reserve.

Lt. Chris Preffer, of the 171st Air Refueling Wing, said soldiers typically have about 15 minutes to call home now and then, but the phone cards allow deployed soldiers to avoid the long wait times for the military’s provided morale lines.

“You can go to any public phones overseas,” he said. “We give these to low-ranking service men who are making little money on the pay scale.”

He added that the military doesn’t authorize personal cell phones in some areas — which can be expensive abroad.

Larry Kuzmanko, director of Allegheny County special events, said the drives raised more than 100,000 phone card minutes in the last five years, not including the 14,000 minutes donated this year.

Preffer said that when the next group of soldiers in the 171st Air Refueling Wing leave in March, they’ll deliver the cards to soldiers stationed in Iraq. Kuzmanko expects that with the corporate partnership, there will be enough phone cards raised to deliver in March and hopefully in time for soldiers to use this holiday season.

Kuzmanko was one of the people who developed the phone card drive idea after he realized that the conflicts abroad would continue.

“We certainly hope there’s a day we don’t have to do this,” he said.

Megan Dardanell, spokeswoman for Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, said people have sent domestic calling cards and money, but international cards are preferred. Those who do not want to stop at Panera Bread may bring phone cards to the County Office Building or a park office located in Boyce, Hartwood, North, Round Hill, Settler’s Cabin, South and White Oak.

People can also mail phone cards to the Allegheny County Special Events Office, 515-B County Office Building, 542 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219.

The drive began Nov. 6 and continues through Dec. 31.