500 cell phones donated at Bluffton Holiday Inn Express

People donated 500 cell phones in the week beginning Memorial Day that will be refurbished and given to U.S. soldiers, sailors and Marines stationed in Iraq.

With the phones come 5,000 in pre-paid minutes, according to a release from Stafford Hospitality. Fourteen Stafford hotels participated in the program, Cell Phones for Soldiers.

"We were not expecting to get as many phones as we did,"Sheila Baxley, corporate trainer at Stafford Hospitality, said in the statement. "It was so nice to see the community come together for this donation. We would like to say thank you to everyone who stopped by the hotel and donated their unused cell phones to this worthy cause. We are proud to show our support for our U.S. soldiers."