My name is Ken Starks and I am the Executive Director of Reglue. We refurbish donated computers and place them in the homes of financially disadvantaged kids in Central Texas. With funding running out, we need your help.
If you prefer a more detailed slideshow, it is available here:
http://tinyurl.com/q7xtcgm
A non-profit organization, Reglue (Recycled Electronics and Gnu Linux for Education) works to bridge the digital divide in Central Texas. In the past few years, we have created 9 computer centers and refurbished more than 1,500 computers for children in need.
Who do we serve?
![Amamda with computer]( "A Shining Star Reglue laptop awardee")
We serve the generation who will plant the first footprint on the surface of Mars. These children will grow into the doctors and researchers that make cancer an inconvenience and not a death sentence. They will relegate diabetes and other diseases like Smallpox and Polio into the annuls of Medicine .
A child that is destined to invent the Next Huge Thing in technology could be inspired by her first exposure to a home computer.
We not only provide individual computers, we have set up 9 computer learning labs in and around Austin Texas. Our crowned jewel is the Bruno Knaapen Technology Center where day care children, area kids, and adults can come use a computer to learn english, communicate with family outside the US or look for jobs.
We are also responsible for maintaining these learning lab computers as well as every one we give to our Reglue Kids.
What it is we need:
Changes in the funding environment and the serious illness of Ken Starks, our executive director, have left us short on resources. We don’t have the funds we need to maintain our computer centers and reach out to the 17,000 school-age children still without computers in Central Texas.
Thomas A. Knight is our partner in this project. A self-described “geek-dad, fantasy author, software developer, and avid role-player” Knight is the author of The Time Weaver series, an Amazon.com best seller.
No Starch Press, which bills itself as “the finest in geek entertainment” has donated several great books for perks. With one small donation you get an entertaining learning experience and a chance to shrink the digital divide at the same time.
And should we not reach our goal, we will take your donation dollar as far as it will carry us into the year. We have alternative funding sources that may be available to us in 14 months, but in the mean time we could really use your help.
Why this is important:
![Bruno Knaapen Technology Learning Center]( "Putting Technology into the Hands of Tomorrow.")
The Digital Divide has become almost cliche' but it exists none the less. In many Austin schools, kids are asked at the first of the year, "Who in the class doesn't have a computer at home?" We want to reduce the number of those raised hands as much as we can. With your help, we will.
My project has been covered state-wide by media over the past few years, yet we find ourselves needing some assistance to get through another year. Our 7 directors and roster of 71 volunteers thank you in advance for your help in making this work not only for us, but for those who don't even know they need help yet.
A child's exposure to technology should never be predicated on the abilty to afford it.
