Corporate donations help teach a younger generation

Tens of thousands of dollars in technology donations from corporations are responsible for an influx of computer equipment at the Urban League of the Pikes Peak Region, and at Falcon School District 49.

Hewlett-Packard donated upwards of $70,000 to the Urban League. The grant allowed the group to purchase four units and a server, as well as upgrade the software for its Community Tech Center at 125 N. Parkside, Suite 203.

The donation has put us further out on the technological edge, said Jim Owens, the Urban League's technology manager. Now we have a whole center of brand-new equipment. It was starting to get long in the tooth.

In addition to Microsoft Office XP, and MS Office Professional, each work station has a 19-inch monitor. The 20 work stations allow adult users to access the Internet, search for jobs and print resumes, and also are used daily for after-school and summer programs offered to school-age children.

We're going to give the community access to the center. Now people will be able to more or less wander in off the street, Owens said. It's the same kind of things you can do at the library. But before there were just not enough access points around the city.

Hewlett-Packard provides technology solutions to individuals, businesses and institutions-including IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, imaging and printing hardware and software. The donation was one of 26 technology grants offered to nonprofit organizations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico as part of the company's Community Technology Center initiative. The grants, which include computer equipment and volunteer time provided by employees, were valued at $1.3 million.

According to Forbes.com, Hewlett-Packard had sales of $63 billion in 2003.

Hewlett-Packard volunteers also will be helping install the new equipment, Owens said.

Getting the grant was wonderful, said Urban League President Debbie Wilson. She said the equipment in the center was probably about four years old, and because of the energetic pace of the technology sector, four years is a long time.

If people are really going to be able to compete in our environment, they need to be tech-savvy, Wilson said. Talking about this so-called digital divide, part of our mission is providing that access for people, and doing whatever it takes to help them achieve their best.

Hewlett-Packard also donated a $25,000 grant to the Boys and Girls Club of the Pikes Peak Region last month.

The grant came to the local Boys and Girls Club in the form of a purchase order, which was used to order from the HP Web site. The organization bought HP hardware and software for its computer labs at the El Pomar and Tutt branches, including monitors, CPUs, keyboards, mouses, mousepads, digital equipment for the club's photography program, as well as software.

Boys & Girls Club CEO James Sullivan estimates there are 25 to 30 computers at each lab, with room to double that figure.

The big deal, quite frankly, is the fact that we had kids who waited up to an hour for a computer. Now our capacity is larger and can continue to grow, Sullivan said. This is a great advantage for them, to learn computer skills. Schools often require kids to get on the Internet as part of their homework assignments, and now they can do it at the Boys & Girls Club after school.

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin donated used hardware to Falcon schools, including IBM, Gateway, Compaq and Dell laptops and desktop computers, Hewlett-Packard printers, a PA system and HUBs.

Although the computers were too old to use in high school and middle school classrooms, the equipment is perfectly suitable for elementary school use. Some of the donations may be gutted and combined with other equipment to create a better whole than the sum of its parts.

Lockheed Martin valued the donation at $123,000, but Al Green, the technology coordinator for the Falcon School District, said that figure is not exactly accurate.

When a business donates this stuff, they do it from the standpoint of what it was originally valued at. But this equipment is five or six years old, Green said. Not to diminish what they've done, not at all. It was a generous donation, but we need to put it in perspective.

Green has decided to put the majority of the equipment in the elementary school setting, using the computers in libraries as card catalog work stations and in classrooms for rudimentary Internet research.

The computers were built to that time's specifications, Green said. We usually wind up taking two or three donated computers to make one good one. Where we can, we cannibalize the system to beef others up.

Lockheed Martin, which employs more than 1,400 people in Colorado Springs, creates programs for air warfare command and control, space surveillance and battle management, satellite communications and missile defense.

Lockheed Martin's philanthropic program strives to improve the quality of life in communities where employees live and work, said Suzanne Smith. The company has a tradition of involvement that includes philanthropy, leadership and volunteer support of educational, civic and cultural initiatives throughout Colorado.

Last month, the military contractor donated a used laptop computer to Pine Creek High School. The school raffled the computer to raise money for Brandon Johnson, an 11-grader who suffered a vertebrae dislocation during a school-sponsored post-prom event, Smith said.

Lockheed Martin had 2003 sales of $26.5 billion according to Forbes.com.

The company estimates that it donates $40,000 a year to charities and organizations in Colorado Springs through the Veterans Day Parade; Big Brothers, Big Sisters; the Colorado Springs Symphony; Care and Share Food Bank and the NAACP Food for Thought gatherings.

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