Military phone card donation program goes public Published April 26, 2004 WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Department of Defense officials announced April 23 that anyone can now help servicemembers in contingency operations call home.Defense officials authorized the Army and Air Force Exchange Service to sell prepaid calling cards to any person or organization that wishes to purchase cards for deployed servicemembers. The “Help Our Troops Call Home” program is designed to assist servicemembers calling home from Southwest Asia.To donate a prepaid calling card to a servicemember people can log on to the AAFES Web site at www.aafes.com/, and click the “Help Our Troops Call Home” link. From there, a prepaid calling card may be purchased for an individual at his or her deployed address or for “any servicemember” deployed or hospitalized. The exchange service will distribute cards donated to “any servicemember” through the American Red Cross, Air Force Aid Society and the Fisher House Foundation.The exchanges operate telephone call centers in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and other countries and aboard ships -- anywhere servicemembers are deployed supporting operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.The cards never expire, and there are no added charges or connection fees.