Community Donations for Computer Education

BY TANYA CLARY-VANDERGAAG

When people asked what they could do with their old computers, the Fort St. John Literacy Society knew just what to say: “We’ll take them!” And, with the help of NEAT, a local recycling organization, and a few computer-savvy volunteers, the Computer Recycling Project was created. What started out as a few donated computers given to a small literacy organization soon turned into a few hundred computer parts and pieces that a couple of computer technicians volunteered to fit together to make complete personal computers.

As companies upgrade their office technology, there is always the question of what to do with outdated computers. As a wellknown non-profit organization, the local literacy contact center was offered half a dozen computers by a large oil company. The computers that were donated to the contact center may have been outdated in the business world, but not for people just learning how to run simple computer programs. A call for more computers was made to the whole community.

After the first year of collecting computers, the Literacy Society was offered some office space in another office building, as the pile of donated computers and computer parts was overwhelming for its small office. This helped the technicians with organizing parts and pieces. The number of computer parts became so large that compatibility became a problem. As a result, accepting only computers with CD-ROM drives, higher speeds and more memory became necessary. As well, a basic, stripped-down Windows program was obtained, with permission, and loaded onto each computer.

It didn’t take long for the word to get out that free computers were being given away. From everywhere people wanted to donate, or receive a computer. And with that, the Refurbished Computers project was underway! Application forms and priority lists were developed too, after it was realized that the number of computers and the number of people interested in refurbished computers exceeded a few dozen. Many other service groups handed out applications, and recommended families or individuals for a computer. After a few months of collecting applications, volunteers went through and screened the applicants, and prioritized them according to need. Families, single parents and those people going to school were given first dibs on a refurbished computer.

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