Join Laptop Upcycle as a Summer Intern this Summer and make a difference for young students locally. We are looking for a rising High School Senior or older volunteer to help us expand. Here is the detailed job description: The successful candidate will work with the Laptop Upcycle Board of Directors to leverage existing promotion and communication channels and explore/develop new tools to expand regional awareness of Laptop Upcycle and promote our mission in three (3) primary areas.
We are a 100% volunteer organization, and we can not monetarily compensate you in this role; however, we will provide you with a high quality laptop which you may keep upon the internship completion. Any questions, or to apply for this internship, email us at giveget@laptopupcycle.org.
Be Like BCG.
Contact your IT Department. Send them a link to this page where they may also see the details of our donation (Give) process (follow the link). If they have any more questions, we're happy to answer them. They can email us and we will set up a call and a pick up. MIke and his team have been busy in the lab. Read about us here in this month's issue of My Suburban Essex!
Have you thought about how Laptop Upcycle gets So. Many. Laptops? Individual donations from generous and thoughtful community members are important (please keep ‘em coming) but there’s a reuse “pipeline” that contributes quite a bit. Companies like Essence Global Advertising, BCG, Celonis and Pfizer choose to donate their laptops when they’re “retired” and we’re exceedingly grateful for their support of our underprivileged students. Companies, from Tier 1 to small businesses, make up a significant IT equipment repurposing cycle. As computer equipment such as laptops, desktops, servers, tablets, etc. (termed collectively as “IT assets”) are no longer needed, there is a nationwide reseller industry that evaluates them (called “grading”) for any retained value and remarkets them. Not only is this a green initiative but there is almost always a market for a functioning computer somewhere. At Laptop Upcycle, we are working to get the attention of corporations and resellers to create a larger laptop inventory feed so that we can continue to expand our program. That’s why we were so pleased when Doug Green of Telecom Reseller invited us to be on his weekly podcast that showcases news for the corporate IT asset reseller market. Sarah Damaskos, a Laptop Upcycle co-founder and board member, sat down (virtually) to tell the excellent historical and current view of Laptop Upcycle. She also noted the impact of the program, our intentionally-anonymous relationships with individual kids in need, and most importantly, our local approach. We’d like to thank Telecom Reseller for giving us the airtime to outline Laptop Upcycle’s growth mission in understandable terms that provides listeners a way to help. If you know a company -- perhaps yours? -- that’s planning an IT refresh and would like to donate their laptops for PR benefits, tax benefits and big-hearted benefits we want to talk to them! Did we mention benefits? Thanks for reading, thanks for listening (our first podcast – woo hoo) and thanks for supporting us! This Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) Laptop Upcycle wants to put a laptop under the trees of students in need. Laptop Santa knows that students who have their own laptops for school, projects, personalization, ownership and accountability -- use them and succeed! Throughout December we'd like your help to brighten the Holiday Season for a local student who cannot afford a laptop for school. If you know of a middle or high school student who could use a laptop and can't afford it, let us know. Our elves are standing by to deliver a refurbished and wrapped laptop that's ready to go under the tree. You can help! 1) Identify students who would benefit and appreciate a holiday gift of a laptop by filling in this short form. 2) Donate a laptop (used or new) 3) Donate funds to support this program! If you have any questions or would like to suggest a partnership or idea, send us an email at giveget@laptopupcycle.org. Deadline: Dec 22, 2021 Thank you for being a "giver" this holiday season and giving a student in need a laptop to succeed. In the past 5 years Laptop Upcycle has given out over 1000 laptops to low income and special needs students. We'd like to end this year with a mighty Ho ho ho! The Laptop Upcycle elves We’ve got big, big news! Laptop Upcycle is branching out by rolling out a partnership with Ramapo College of New Jersey! The mission remains the same: eliminating obstacles to ensure students have the tools they need to succeed in their academic careers. Dr. Susan Gaulden, Interim Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs at Ramapo College, says, “We are truly excited about and committed to our partnership with Laptop Upcycle, as the initiative will ensure our students are able to secure the technology they need in order to have the best possible academic experience and the greatest chance of academic success.” Kicking off “Laptop Upcycle @ Ramapo” is a drive to solicit donations of used, working laptops. The entire program is student-oriented and student-driven: Ramapo Social Work students are helping to organize operations of the program and trained Student Assistants will make repairs and refurbishments. Read the Ramapo College's press release Visit the Laptop Upcycle @ Ramapo webpage Support Laptop Upcycle @ Ramapo’s Fall 2021 Donation Drive (Nov. 16, 18, 19) Locally, everything works the same. If you have a laptop to donate here in Montclair or nearby, just start an equipment donation here and we will set up an easy pickup or drop off (Or, consider a monetary donation to Laptop Upcycle to help us expand our program locally and regionally.) And our student intern program in the Lab continues to meet on Tuesdays and Sundays. Join the Laptop Upcycle Lab Facebook group to stay up to date or grab a spot for a lab session here.
Please join the Laptop Upcycle Board in welcoming Ramapo College to the Laptop Upcycle family! We could not be more thrilled about this new partnership. We at Laptop Upcycle are passionate about closing the technology gap in our schools. In pursuit of this goal we rely upon our volunteers to delivery on our mission. In fact, we are 100% volunteer driven, with a working Board of Directors.
This Fall, we delivered over 110 laptops to students headed back to school and in our 5 years based in Montclair we have given out 1378 laptops, all volunteer powered. We are excited to announce our most recent new Board member, Joshua Crandall. Josh is a 25-year resident of Montclair and father to 3 daughters who went through the Montclair schools. He works in technology in financial services. You may also know him as "Conductor Josh" since he is also the founder and CEO of CleverCommute - an online information service for suburban commuters. Josh brings a passion for education and technology to our team and we look forward to his fresh insights as we expand our partnerships and market in and around Montclair. Please join us in welcoming Josh! PS - Are you interested in joining us (and Josh)? We have many opportunities and would love to talk. This week we draw focus on a couple of corporate partners, Laptop Legends, who have made repeat and significant donations to us.
First, we welcome the Boston Consulting Group in Summit, NJ as our newest Laptop Legend. They have now made three significant donations of their lightly used laptops to Laptop Upcycle. It would have been easy for them to simply ship them to a bulk recycling shop, but instead they chose us! Our student volunteers wipe the drives with industry approved software and renovate the laptops for other local students. For those laptops that may be damaged, our team mixes and matches the components to make working systems and we responsibly recycle the rest. A heartfelt thank you to The Boston Consulting Group! Is your company currently holding a storage closet full of laptops or do they (gasp!) send them off to corporate clearing house INSTEAD of putting them back to work and in the hands of students who need them? Please contact us. Greetings students, teachers, parents, and care givers and welcome back to school! We at Laptop Upcycle are pleased that school is back in session and we wish everyone all the best in these difficult times. We have a lot of news to share on multiple fronts; partnerships, milestones, progress in our lab, and new volunteers, but to start a series of posts on these pages we share our opinion on the difference between Chromebooks and other laptops, with a focus on usage in our public schools in Montclair. The Montclair Board of Education announced in late August of 2021 that they would be issuing Chromebooks to every student as a part of their one-to-one Chromebook initiative (see this Montclair Local article for details). Laptop Upcycle fully supports this effort and we congratulate the district for this action. Getting technology in to the hands of students who need it has been our passion for close to five years now and we have succeeded in giving over 1000 laptops to students locally.
Laptop Upcycle would like you to understand the difference between borrowing a Chromebook from the District and getting one from us. Without further ado -
Thanks, Laptop Upcycle Sunny summer salutations from the Laptop Upcycle Lab! As this unusual school year has finally, officially ended, we’d like to call attention to the local high school seniors who have participated in our internship program and now graduated. Some of them have been coming to the Laptop Upcycle Lab for quite a few years! Hailing from Glen Ridge High School, Newark Academy and Montclair High School, this small army of dedicated young men and women has shown up regularly and often to learn how to test and repair laptops, securely wipe data, install and test new software so that each laptop that goes out the door is in the best condition possible. They have also had the chance to teach others and take leadership on special projects. We know the experiences and expertise they have gained will serve them well -- in college and beyond! To say that we appreciate their time and rely on their help is an understatement! Summer high school internships Operating throughout the summer, our Laptop Upcycle internship program is open to any high school student who wants to learn about computers or earn community service hours. To learn more and read our updated COVID-19 precautions, join the Laptop Upcycle Lab Facebook group to stay up to date or grab a spot for a lab session here! (Almost) ageless opportunities Older than high school? We are 100% volunteer-run and seek new community volunteers! Of special interest is someone who can help us build a curriculum to certify our interns. If you’re interested, drop us a line! Thank you again to all our high school students for their community volunteerism, interest and enthusiasm. And, a BIG congratulations to the graduated Lab seniors! |
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