What happens to electronics at Redeemer when they get older and are no longer needed?
In the past, the answer has been “re-build and recycle.” This year, however, they had an even better destination.
Laptops that reached the end of their lifecycle this year were donated to a local school, church and non-profit organizations, giving new life to old tech and providing students, families and missionaries with the supplies that they need to learn and minister to the best of their abilities.
Hamilton District School, Lakemount Worship Centre, Reconnect Computer Technology and The St. Leonard’s Society of Hamilton – GreenBYTE program were the laptop recipients this year.
“These laptops will quickly make their way into our classrooms and our Learning Resource Centre,” said Harry Blyleven, technology coordinator at Hamilton District Christian High. “The laptops will be primarily used for internet access and collaboration on Google Docs. These laptops will be perfect for this!”
In previous years, the IT department would use older laptops for parts, repurposing and updating other laptops so that the parts could still go to use even after the original computer was retired. After that, the remaining parts or unusable laptops would be sent out for recycling. While these outdated computers have always been put to good use and disposed of responsibly, this year the IT department did one better, formatting and cleaning up the older laptops and getting them in the hands of worthy organizations.
“We were able to send three laptops to World Embrace in Gulu, Uganda and another two will go to The Samaritan Foundation in the Dominican Republic to help with their vocational school,” shared Becky Lang on behalf of the Lakemount Worship Centre. “The students will have a far better chance if they know how to run a computer and speak English.”
Redeemer is excited to see these laptops given a second life and go to good causes in our community and around the world.