SUBMITTAL FOR APCUG
“JERRY” COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Club Name:
Address:
President:
APCUG Rep: Judy Taylour
Contact: Robert D.
Wilson 865-458-6523 rdwil@charter.net
HOW We Provide Free
Computers For The Needy:
Previously unsaleable
donated Computers for charitable fundraisers were junked. Our
President, Warren Sanders thought this a waste since he knew many would benefit
in having a computer but can not afford them.. He
surveyed members of the Loudon County Tennessee Interagency Council for
needy families and received an initial list of forty four. All have received “cleaned” and refurbished computers from TVCUC.
Each system has at least a Pentium II processor, 128 Mb of RAM, and 2 Gb hard drive. Most have Windows 98 SE for the operating system a few with ME. We put some form of Office product on them, Office ’97, Office 2000, or Open Office. We load and run AVG Free anti-virus, Spybot, and AdAware. Copies of software are placed on each machine amd we make sure all drivers are present and the respective hardware is functioning correctly. We also include a working printer with good or new cartridges and a ream of paper with each system. Our goal with the cartridges and the paper is that the recipient can take the system home, hook it up, and start using it without having to expend funds to make it work.
Contact:
Background:
The idea was born out
of an extension of our bi-annual process of refurbishing computers for local
charitable groups for resale. Many of
the computers were older ones operating on limited memory and running on
Windows 98SE Operating System. It seemed
a waste to have these machines thrown out because no one was willing to buy
them at any price. Our President, Warren
Sanders thought that there must be many people in our area who can not afford
purchasing a computer but would welcome the opportunity to have one even though
not having any where near the current crop of computers have in
capability. He noted that we all were
pleased to have the Windows 98SE Operating system when it was first introduced
and we could do a lot of basic computer activity with that system so why
wouldn’t there be a market for Free computers.
We already had the skilled members willing to do the work in making donated computers functional for a new user. This activity not only involves providing a computer but other peripherals to assure usefulness and minimize operational costs to the recipient. Mr. Sanders most important task was finding a resource for identifying potential recipients. He visited a meeting of the Loudon County Tennessee Interagency Council back in April. This is a group consisting of representatives of many of the “help” agencies in the area. He handed out an explanation of what we wanted to do, and asked for their assistance in getting names of deserving families in the area.
Continued:
Mr. Sanders Request For Help In
Locating Needy Families:
I am Warren Sanders, chairman of the team of workers from the TVCUC who clean up computers for the two Tellico Village Garage Sales. We have found that lower-end computers with Windows 98 simply do not sell very well. We are proposing that these computers be given to less affluent families in the area – with children in the home – at no cost to them. We currently have about 15 such systems on hand, and expect to receive more now that Microsoft has launched Windows Vista. We will continue to clean out all unnecessary files and programs and remove all reference to the donor before we give them to these families. We have received permission from Habitat for Humanity, the Good Neighbor Shoppe, the Beautification Committee of the POA, and the Community Church Crafters* to launch this program.
(*Note: The above are the organizations to whom the computers for sale were originally donated. However, in the future we have the option of requesting that Windows 98SE type computer be donated directly to TVCUC without impinging on our current program assisting charitable groups.)
What do we need from you? The names, addresses, phone numbers and the children’s names of families we can give them to. We do not have the means or knowledge to screen them, so we will trust your input. We plan to take all submitted lists and compile one master list. We will then invite the first families from the master list to come to a specific location at a specified time to pick up their computer. As more computers become available, we will work on down the list. If, after you submit a list, another family comes to your attention, please feel free to submit their name (including children), address and phone number to me. We would like to have your initial lists submitted by May 15. Thanks!
Results of Request:
Mr. Sanders compiled a list of 44 families’ names as a result of his initial inquiry. We gave complete systems to 12 of them on June 2 and will have covered the remainder on October 6th of this year.
So far the cash needed to meet the objective of turning over completely functional computers has been funded by the members preparing them and will be reimbursed by the TVCUC. The Good Neighbor Shoppe and the Community Church Crafters (contributing $150) have been generous in supporting the costs incurred for the computers currently and pending refitted and upgraded for the program.
The TVCUC will continue this program as long as there are individuals being referred to us that would warrant our providing a free computer.
If the TVCUC is
awarded a prize for this submission the funding will be used to assist in
funding our Free Computers For The Needy program and
to assist in funding the equipping and operational cost of outfitting a Computer
Classroom and Storage Facility. This
facility will be made available to the Club later this year following completion
of renovations within the existing
Continued:
Additional
Information on TVCUC Community Outreach
The Tellico Village Computer Users Club,
Bylaws:
Article II – Purpose
The purposes of the TVCUC are as follows:
· To provide a forum for sharing knowledge and experience, resolving problems, and increasing the effectiveness of users of personal computers, related software, and peripherals.
· To provide an opportunity for formal and informal education and training in computer hardware and software applications.
· To provide community outreach and service programs and to share ideas with other computer groups having similar interests.
Our Community primarily consists of retirees most of whom had not been dependent upon their own personal computer skills in their work environment. As a consequence there is a pent-up demand to open the computer world for them so that they may take advantage of this resource to enrich their retirement years and to maintain communication with family and friends who use e-mail and instant messaging as their primary means of keeping in touch and sharing information.
There are many ways in which our club contributes to meeting our Community Service objectives. The three most obvious, are providing well-advertised computer related programs at our monthly general meetings, contributing articles related to computer maintenance, security, basic programs toward “Getting the most out of your Computer” via the “Village Connection”, other local papers, our Newsletter and our www.tvcuc.org website where copies of presentations of topical computer information is posted for general public access. The TVCUC is a teaching resource for computer related courses for the Loudon County Senior Citizens Center and the Tellico Village Library. TVCUC also provides its own special subject computer programs in what currently are rather limiting facilities.
END