Edison Tom Delivering Refurbished Laptops to Needy Students at Theuerkauf Elementary School
By Alice Liu
The EqOpTech Family Refurbished Laptop program
EqOpTech (www.eqoptech.org), a Los Altos 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is collaborating with local schools to give away free refurbished laptops to families in Los Altos & Mountain View schools who do not own a laptop or computer device. With these refurbished laptops, students and families can attend online classes, Zoom meetings, access various online resources and learn new skills amidst the pandemic.
We are working hard to support our community during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis to make technology resources available and accessible to all. To bridge the technology gap for students who do not have laptops at home, EqOpTech engages and empowers students who are passionate about technology to refurbish surplus laptops and make an impact.
This initiative is spearheaded by Edison Tom, a Los Altos High student who joined EqOpTech back in June 2019. “I am very thankful for the opportunity to help students by refurbishing these laptops and I am happy to know that these laptops can be reused for online learning,” said Tom, Lead Engineering Intern. For months, Tom and his team worked tirelessly and virtually from home to repair, upgrade, and install necessary software on all donated laptops. They put in a lot of hard work and effort outside school hours and on the weekends. The EqOpTech technical team teaches students basic PC refurbishing skills (Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromium), such as removing personal data, restoring factory settings, installing drivers, operating systems, software applications, SATA drives, security and feature updates, partitioning hard drives for dual boot over a series of virtual hands-on summer workshops via Zoom, Slack and, Google Sites.
Over the President’s Day holiday break, approximately 2 dozen refurbished laptops were upgraded with the latest Windows operating systems, software applications etc. and 10 were given away to families whose children attend Theuerkauf Elementary School in Mountain View. At this time, we have 20 more laptop requests in the pipeline that our team is working hard to fulfill. The program will be rolled out in phases with more schools to follow.
To apply, sign up via https://tinyurl.com/EqoptechFreeLaptopSignup
Families will be contacted when the refurbished laptops are ready to be picked up at school.
See attached digital flyers in English and Spanish for details.
Image credit: Alice Liu
The Equal Opportunity Technology program is made possible thanks to the Los Altos Community Foundation community grant award. Visit here for more