CONTRIBUTED

Voting began Sept. 14 in U.S. Cellular's Calling All Communities campaign.

Returning for its fourth year, U.S. Cellular is giving communities the opportunity to help improve the education of students at 18 schools by challenging them to rally community support for the chance to win a share of $1 million, a news release said. 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.

Potential voters can visit their local U.S. Cellular store to pick up their voting code to vote for their favorite school.

"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 Dee Taylor, director of sales for U.S. Cellular in eastern North Carolina. "We are active members of our customers' communities and we believe this campaign is a great way to engage entire communities to work toward a common goal."

Calling All Communities is open to all K-12 schools - public or private. Voting runs through Oct. 21. Simply visit the local U.S. Cellular store to pick up a code to vote. Enter the code online at uscellular.com to cast a vote.

Only one vote per person is permitted.

Since the program began in 2008, U.S. Cellular has awarded $3 million to 38 schools across the country for them to use however they see fit to impact the education of students, the release said.

Past Calling All Commu-nities champions have used their winnings in a variety of ways to strengthen the learning experience for thousands of students. Many winning schools outfitted their classrooms with new computers, improved outdated infrastructure, and renovated gymnasiums, kitchens and science labs, as well as provided scholarships to graduating students.

Eastern North Carolina schools have won more than $750,000 since the program began.

"Each year, we are more and more excited to see the results pour in," Taylor said. "All of us at U.S. Cellular truly become attached to seeing our communities band together for their schools. And as we're all aware during an election year, every vote counts!"

Getting off to a strong start in the voting has proven successful for schools in past campaigns, the release said.

Official rules for the campaign are at uscellular.com/callingallcommunities.