Optimist club refurbishes used and donated computers for kids
By Staff Reports
Published in News on February 15, 2017 9:55 AM
The Optimist Club of Goldsboro is taking donations of computers that can be refurbished and distributed to students who can use them.
Since becoming affiliated with the Computers4Kids program in 2012, the club has actively worked to connect computers to low-income families with children in the local school system, said Needham Park, board member with the Optimist Club.
"We have given up to this point, we have sold or given out I think 247 computers," he said. "The total number of children has been 450."
At the outset, the club tried to get the word out about the need for computers.
"There's a lot of counties, like Johnston County, in certain schools they get a Chrome book," he said. "In this county that's not going on.
"We're trying to get as many kids as possible. They're not getting (computers) through the schools."
In the past, the Optimist Club held specific collection days at several area businesses, serving as drop-off sites for monitors and related computer items.
Then club members went to work to clean up the hard drive and revamp the computers so they could be put to use by students.
"We got a refurbishing license from Microsoft, we get Windows 10 and Office 2010," he said. "It has changed as we have gotten better donations, better quality computers. All we do now is clean them up, take the hard drive out.
"But we weren't having a lot of kids showing up, even for free computers."
So the club is trying to get the word out about the service.
Criteria to qualify for a computer is minimal, Park said.
"Basically they have got to be approved by the social worker at their school," he said. "One (stipulation) is going to be low income, and if the social worker signs off on it."
Students in all grades are eligible, including those who go on to Wayne Community College.
The club also still welcomes donations from the community, primarily laptops.
"We do not take the old-style monitors, only these classroom monitors," Park said. "Any kind of computer, any kind of electronic equipment. We take all of it -- the mouse, speakers, keyboards."
Instead of having designated days and varying locations, though, the Optimist Club office, 205 E. Walnut Street, will be open to accept donations on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until noon.