Hi All, I have floated the following idea at my church and it has been well received. Seek donations of older computers, have the youth group refurbish them, sell them at a low price with user training and support to seniors. The money raised will go to the youth group. The systems would be optimized for email and web surfing. Naturally Linux would be the OS. Is this a crazy idea? Has anyone done something similar? Are there resources available to help with this sort of thing? Thanks, Mike Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
mlong@datalong.com wrote, on Nov 23, 2008 at 11:37 EST:
Hi All,
I have floated the following idea at my church and it has been well received. Seek donations of older computers, have the youth group refurbish them, sell them at a low price with user training and support to seniors. The money raised will go to the youth group. The systems would be optimized for email and web surfing. Naturally Linux would be the OS.
Is this a crazy idea? Has anyone done something similar? Are there resources available to help with this sort of thing?
My typical response to such inquiries is to point folks to http://freegeek.org as a long standing example of recycling/refurbishing computers for those in need. I've not followed their progress in many years, but they were quite strong back in 2003, and still seem to be going rather well, with other regional FreeGeek "family members" popping up across the country. I've long wanted to see one such venture around here, but ... there's too much work involved :P -- Aaron Haviland 34 Wayne Ave, Dudley, MA
There's a computer co-op in Worcester that's run out of a church basement. I'm CCing some friends who are involved. It's a public lab that also builds computers to give to neighborhood kids. http://www.nindy.com/wcc/ My experience is that Ubuntu is very easy for people who are beginner Windows users to pick up. People who are advanced enough to burn a CD in Windows can usually try it out themselves no problem. Nick
"Aaron" == Aaron Haviland <orion@parsed.net> writes:
Aaron> mlong@datalong.com wrote, on Nov 23, 2008 at 11:37 EST: >> Hi All, >> >> I have floated the following idea at my church and it has been >> well received. Seek donations of older computers, have the youth >> group refurbish them, sell them at a low price with user training >> and support to seniors. The money raised will go to the youth >> group. The systems would be optimized for email and web >> surfing. Naturally Linux would be the OS. >> >> Is this a crazy idea? Has anyone done something similar? Are >> there resources available to help with this sort of thing? Aaron> My typical response to such inquiries is to point folks to Aaron> http://freegeek.org as a long standing example of Aaron> recycling/refurbishing computers for those in need. Aaron> I've not followed their progress in many years, but they were Aaron> quite strong back in 2003, and still seem to be going rather Aaron> well, with other regional FreeGeek "family members" popping Aaron> up across the country. Aaron> I've long wanted to see one such venture around here, but Aaron> ... there's too much work involved :P Aaron> -- Aaron Haviland 34 Wayne Ave, Dudley, MA
Thanks for these resources. It looks like the worcestercoop.org site may not be maintained anymore. I have found some other contact info and will follow up on that. Any other folks you could send my way is greatly appreciated. The Free Geek project looks like my idea on steroids. Too bad they are on the other coast. They are a good resource though. Does anyone have experience with local recyclers? If we start getting donated equipment we need a cost effective way to get rid of old monitors etc. Mike nassar@alum.wpi.edu wrote:
There's a computer co-op in Worcester that's run out of a church basement. I'm CCing some friends who are involved. It's a public lab that also builds computers to give to neighborhood kids. http://www.nindy.com/wcc/
My experience is that Ubuntu is very easy for people who are beginner Windows users to pick up. People who are advanced enough to burn a CD in Windows can usually try it out themselves no problem.
Nick
"Aaron" == Aaron Haviland <orion@parsed.net> writes:
Aaron> mlong@datalong.com wrote, on Nov 23, 2008 at 11:37 EST: >> Hi All, >> >> I have floated the following idea at my church and it has been >> well received. Seek donations of older computers, have the youth >> group refurbish them, sell them at a low price with user training >> and support to seniors. The money raised will go to the youth >> group. The systems would be optimized for email and web >> surfing. Naturally Linux would be the OS. >> >> Is this a crazy idea? Has anyone done something similar? Are >> there resources available to help with this sort of thing?
Aaron> My typical response to such inquiries is to point folks to Aaron> http://freegeek.org as a long standing example of Aaron> recycling/refurbishing computers for those in need.
Aaron> I've not followed their progress in many years, but they were Aaron> quite strong back in 2003, and still seem to be going rather Aaron> well, with other regional FreeGeek "family members" popping Aaron> up across the country.
Aaron> I've long wanted to see one such venture around here, but Aaron> ... there's too much work involved :P
Aaron> -- Aaron Haviland 34 Wayne Ave, Dudley, MA _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
---- Michael Long <mlong@datalong.com> wrote: ============= The Free Geek project looks like my idea on steroids. Too bad they are on the other coast. They are a good resource though. http://www.fgri.org
We still kinda do this stuff. Unfortunately my time now gets spent on the job, not allowing much room for this stuff. I still get donations and we still give computers away, just not in the same capacity. I would be happy to go over the lessons I have learned, things that worked, and things we could have done better. Pat Sawyer On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 2:22 PM, Clint Moyer <cdmoyer@charter.net> wrote:
---- Michael Long <mlong@datalong.com> wrote:
=============
The Free Geek project looks like my idea on steroids. Too bad they are on the other coast. They are a good resource though.
http://www.fgri.org _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
I would love to pick your brain about this. I am slowly moving my program forward between work, kids, etc. Do you have a location you are doing this out of. If so I would like to check it out. Otherwise I would be happy to talk over the phone or meet you over a cup of coffee. Please let me know what works best for you. Mike Long cell: 978 729 3534 Patrick Sawyer wrote:
We still kinda do this stuff.
Unfortunately my time now gets spent on the job, not allowing much room for this stuff.
I still get donations and we still give computers away, just not in the same capacity.
I would be happy to go over the lessons I have learned, things that worked, and things we could have done better.
Pat Sawyer
On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 2:22 PM, Clint Moyer <cdmoyer@charter.net <mailto:cdmoyer@charter.net>> wrote:
---- Michael Long <mlong@datalong.com <mailto:mlong@datalong.com>> wrote:
=============
The Free Geek project looks like my idea on steroids. Too bad they are on the other coast. They are a good resource though.
http://www.fgri.org _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org <mailto:Wlug@mail.wlug.org> http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
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_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
Sorry for the spam. I didn't pay attention to the return address and thought I was replying directly to Pat. Michael Long wrote:
I would love to pick your brain about this. I am slowly moving my program forward between work, kids, etc. Do you have a location you are doing this out of. If so I would like to check it out. Otherwise I would be happy to talk over the phone or meet you over a cup of coffee.
participants (6)
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Aaron Haviland -
Clint Moyer -
Michael Long -
mlong＠datalong.com
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nassar＠alum.wpi.edu -
Patrick Sawyer