Technology News – 2007 Archive
Carroll County Kids Go High Tech
Eldersburg resident helps refurbish computers for youth in need
By Katherine Mullen | Staff Writer (Eldersburg Gazette - Feb. 15, 2007)
With today’s classroom requiring kids to be technologically savvy and computers an essential learning tool, Lynn Karr sees CompuKids as a way for Carroll County children to have equal access.
“We’re trying to bridge the digital divide,“ said Karr, the director of Compukids. “There’s a growing need in the community.“
CompuKids is a program through the Carroll Technology Council, a non-profit organization that aims to provide technology information and resources in Carroll County.
The program refurbishes donated computers with up-to-date programs and Internet access and places them in homes of children in need.
Karr said the program began in 2005 and has since donated nearly 100 computers to school-age children. The program has also donated computers to several Carroll County shelters.
CompuKids is inundated with requests for computers, Karr said. At the start of the school year, the waiting list included 80 families, Karr said. The list is now narrowed down to 20.
CompuKids receives private, individual computer donations as well as several donations at once from schools in Carroll and Montgomery Counties.
According to Karr, donated computers must have at least 256 mega ram and a Pentium 3 or 4 processor. The item that is most needed is internal modems for dial-up Internet access, Karr noted.
With the donated computers on hand, CompuKids schedules “work days“ for volunteers to wipe clean old programs, install new programs and manually clean the computer’s insides.
During the daylong event, volunteers install programs such as Windows XP, Microsoft Office 2003 and anti-virus services, Karr said.
Catherine McDonald of Eldersburg has volunteered for more than a year with CompuKids and the Carroll Technology Council to install software in the donated computers from her home.
Families who receive a computer get one year of free Internet access from Carroll County Public Libraries, McDonald said.
Once the computers are refurbished, CompuKids hosts a donation night for 20 families, Karr said, where the families learn the basics of connecting and working their computer before they take it home.
In order to qualify for a computer, families must have a school age-child, be a legal United States and Carroll County resident and have financial need.
County social service agencies often refer families to CompuKids, McDonald said, and CompuKids provides families with valuable resources.
“Many of these families, children and the people at the shelter wouldn’t have network resources for training, education, for outreach,“ McDonald said. “This program enables them to help them with their lives.“
To Learn More
For more information on CompuKids, visit www.carrolltechcouncil.com or call Lynn Karr at 443-244-1262.
