Even in education, escaping the need to use the internet is nearly impossible. However, not all students have reliable access to a computer. Two scouts from Troop 20 in Mount Pleasant recently received laptops from Computers with a Cause, a local organization that donates new laptops to students.
“If you don’t have access to a computer in this digital society, then there’s clearly a significant gap of what you’re capable of accomplishing, especially for education,” said Dr. Bobby Baker, the founder of Computers with a Cause with his wife Julie Baker.
Both Davidson Bendell and Emmett Townsend had a way to get online, but it wasn’t very sustainable. Bendell has access to a Chromebook at school, but a lot of his projects and schoolwork need to be completed at home. His option at home was using an old laptop that didn’t run well. Townsend had a similar issue. While his family has a shared computer, his mom works from home and he has to share time with his brother when the computer is available.
“It was really special for me to receive this computer,” said Townsend who is 12 years old. “I was really happy when I got it.”
While teenagers get a bad rap for spending too much time in front of a screen, students can learn valuable skills from computers, such as learning to code, developing graphic design skills or researching an interesting topic. Plus, Bendell mentioned needing a computer for some school and scouts projects.
“This computer really helped me,” said Bendell, who is 14 years old.
Nearly six years ago, Baker realized he took his access to a computer for granted. He received a flyer in the mail for a Black Friday deal on laptops. He tossed it in the trash, along with the other coupons and flyers. But then he thought about it. Even though he doesn’t need a laptop, there’s likely someone in the community who does.
The store allowed him to purchase five laptops with the deal. The next step was finding students who could benefit from a new laptop. The first group to receive laptops from Computers with a Cause was five Charleston County School District students who were in need of a personal computer.
“It was just a fantastic feeling to be able to give those computers to those kids that day,” said Baker. “Since then, we’ve just kept giving away more and more computers.”
In addition to students, Computers with a Cause has donated new laptops to community centers and staff members for local nonprofits. Due to Baker’s involvement with Scouts BSA as the Coastal Carolina Council vice president of marketing, he wanted to find scouts who were actively involved in the organization and the community to be among the recipients.
The scouts who were interested filled out an application that asked questions about community service, financial needs, future college plans and reasons for wanting a laptop. Baker said Bendell and Townsend’s applications were exactly what the organization was looking for. Additionally, Troop 20 Scoutmaster Chad Neal wrote a recommendation letter for the two scouts, which solidified the committee’s decision.
Bendell and Townsend received the laptops at an end-of-the-year celebration for Troop 20. In the spirit of giving, the troop participated in a Toys for Tots drive and collected donations at the final meeting.
Baker said Computers with a Cause wanted to start its giving season with these two scouts, but plans to donate more computers to scouts soon.
“What we’re trying to do is bridge the digital gap in our community and this is one way. I can’t tackle everything, but it’s one thing I can do — one computer at a time,” said Baker.
For more information about Computers with a Cause, visit computerswithacause.org.
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