HARROGATE, Tenn. — A Pineville woman was given the opportunity to see her fianc/ via video conferencing this weekend thanks to the Freedom Calls Foundation.
Shantel Grecu, of Pineville, was overjoyed that she was going to get to actually see her fianc/ Scottie Lawson’s face while she was talking to him.
“It’s one thing to talk to him on the phone, but to be able to see that he is alive and well is amazing,” said Grecu.
Lawson is currently serving with the Virginia National Guard in Iraq and has been there since September of 2006, said Grecu.
Even though she is able to talk to Lawson on the phone she says it is not always clear and they are sometimes disconnected mid conversation. She says this opportunity to get to see him face to face is “wonderful.”
The video conference was held at Lincoln Memorial University’s (LMU) Information Technology Department because Grecu does not have broadband Internet connection at her home.
Ken Ramos, Chief Information Officer at LMU, said he was contacted by Freedom Calls because they had a family that was interested in participating in a video conference but did not have the capabilities in their own home.
Ramos was asked if it was possible to let the family use their facilities to hold the conference.
Ramos agreed saying, “These soldiers are over there serving our country and I am here enjoying the fruits of their labor, so to me this is the least I could do in return for what they are doing for me and the rest of the country.”
Grecu and her three daughters were able to talk to Lawson for nearly an hour.
“I really appreciate it that they have taken the time to do this for us,” said Grecu.
Ramos explained that Freedom Calls is a private not-for-profit organization that has developed call centers where soldiers can contact their families for free. He said they even offer families with the appropriate Internet connections the software and equipment needed to participate.
The Foundation has stations at five camps in Iraq and is working daily to add more. At each call center there are telephones, video conferencing stations, video e-mail stations and computers with e-mail and Internet access.
As a result of these centers “more than 40,000 soldiers in 5 camps in Iraq are able to communicate with their families and loved ones at home on a regular basis 24 hours per day free of charge,” says the official website of the Foundation.
For more information on the Freedom Calls Foundation visit www.freedomcalls.org or call (973) 290-7886.
Andrea Schneider is a Staff Writer for the Daily News. She can be contacted via e-mail at aschneider@middlesborodailynews.com.
Photo: Shantel Grecu and her three daughters, Angelina Morley and Desiray and Annastasia Grecu, were able to talk face to face to Grecu’s fianc/, who is serving in Iraq, through a video conferencing program provided by the Freedom Calls Foundation. ANDREA SCHNEIDER/Daily News
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