When Brittany and Robbie Bergquist started a program to ease the phone bills of soldiers overseas, they never dreamed it would get this big.

The Massachusetts teenagers, then 13 and 12 respectively, wanted to help a soldier they had heard about on the news who faced a nearly $8,000 phone bill as a result of calling home from Iraq.

Now, five years later, Cell Phones for Soldiers distributes more than 7,200 pre-paid phone cards a week to troops abroad, and has donated more than $4 million worth of calling cards to date.

Now young adults, the siblings have decided to take their program one step further by working as interns at the Dexter-based ReCellular.

“To come here and really dedicate full days and full weeks (to the program) has been very interesting and very exciting,” Brittany Bergquist said. “To see the inner workings, it’s very different than what I did back home.”

ReCellular, a long-time partner of Cell Phones for Soldiers, purchases discarded cell phones from charities to either recycle or refurbish them to sell again. Cell Phones for Soldiers then uses the money to purchase phone cards for troops abroad.

Brittany and Robby Bergquist, now 18 and 17 years old respectively, have worked with ReCellular on a near-daily basis for years. Now they've decided to come to Michigan to see the workings of the other side.

“I really wanted to learn basically the ins and outs of the program and realize what happened behind the scene that Brittany and I never really get to see,” Robbie Bergquist said. “This was our opportunity to come see hands on what we can do to help out at ReCellular who help us out every day.”

As interns, the two spend most of their time in the firm’s Ann Arbor office where they communicate daily with phone drop-off sites throughout the country. Their tasks range from updating databases to reaching out to companies to gain new partnerships.

“A lot of what we’ve asked of Robbie and Brittany is to recruit more people to the program,” said Mike Newman, ReCellular’s vice president. “Once we get them in front of a company, it’s very rare that they say no.”

Since starting in early July, the Bergquists have recruited a number of new supporters to their cause, including Detroit-based Ilitch Holdings, Victory Automotive Group and the city of Wayne.

But for Brittany Bergquist, who is considering a career in business or nonprofit management, the experience has meant so much more.

“I’m much more confident in my own skills and self,” she said. “I think working at ReCellular was probably the best decision I’ve had.”

For Robbie Bergquist, who is also considering a career in charity work, the experience was a good career move.

“It really allowed me to see things I never saw before,” he said. “If I want to pursue that as a career, now I have the experience to back what I want to do.”

At ReCellular, the Bergquists have been a breath of fresh air.

“Their enthusiasm and passion just inspires everybody that they meet,” Karen Greene said, ReCellular’s program manager for Cell Phones for Soldiers. “It’s been incredible getting to know them personally.”

Newman agreed.

“A lot of what makes ReCellular a great place to work is the mission and focus on supporting charities and protecting the environment,” he said. “Having Brittany and Robbie around, it really helps bring that to light and re-enforces what we’re doing.”

Today, the internship will draw to a close, as the Bergquists get ready to return to school.

Brittany will start college this fall at Massachusetts’s Stonehill College, while Robbie will return home for his senior year of high school.

Their time in Michigan, however, has left the siblings even more inspired to continue their cause.

“I think the experience is going to help me discuss the program more,” Brittany Bergquist said. “All the really small things that mean a lot for donors, I feel like I can explain it br to them, I have a different understanding of my own program.”

Erica Hobbs is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach our news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.