PORTAGE SCHOOLS CAN WIN A SHARE OF $1 MILLION IN U.S. CELLULAR'S CALLING ALL COMMUNITIES CAMPAIGN

Returning for its fourth year, U.S. Cellular is launching its Calling All Communities campaign to award 18 schools nationwide a share of $1 million. Community voting begins Friday, September 14 and runs through October 21.
 
The school that garners the most community votes will win $150,000, and the next 17 schools with the most votes will receive $50,000. Winnings can be used any way the school sees fit to enhance students’ learning experience.
 
“Calling All Communities gives schools the opportunity to earn the funding they need to invest in the areas most critical to their students’ learning experiences,” said Carter S. Elenz, executive vice president of sales and customer service for U.S. Cellular. “We are active members of our customers’ communities and we believe this campaign is a great way to engage entire communities to work towards a common goal.”
Calling All Communities is open to all K-12 schools nationwide — big or small, public or private. Anyone 18 years or older can vote once for any school they wish. Voters obtain a voting code by visiting a local U.S. Cellular store, and then enter the code online at uscellular.com to cast a vote. Anyone can then check back to track school rankings, see the top vote-getting schools, get ideas to rally more votes and post photos at uscellular.com. With only one vote per person, it is important for schools to get entire communities involved.

Getting off to a strong start in the voting has proven successful for schools in past campaigns. Previous winners have started early and rallied their community together in fun and innovative ways. Some schools use social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to spread the word online. Others also engage parent teacher organizations, alumni networks, sports teams, the school band or student groups to encourage voting. Some schools also invited local U.S. Cellular associates to speak at meetings to generate participation.
 
Since the program began in 2008, U.S. Cellular has awarded $3 million to 38 schools across the country. Past Calling All Communities champions have used their winnings in a variety of ways to strengthen the learning experience for thousands of students. Many winning schools have outfitted their classrooms with new computers, improved outdated infrastructure and renovated gymnasiums, kitchens and science labs or have provided scholarships to graduating students.
 
The official rules for the campaign are located at uscellular.com/callingallcommunities. For more information about U.S. Cellular and past Calling All Communities campaigns, visit uscellular.com or facebook.com/uscellular.
 
 
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. Currently, 31 percent of customers have access to 4G LTE speeds and 58 percent will have access by the end of 2012. U.S. Cellular was named a J.D. Power and Associates Customer Service Champion in 2012 for the second year in a row. 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.
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For more information, contact:
Mary Jo Garinger, Public Relations Counsel           
773.355.3331
MaryJoGaringer@zizzogroup.com