Spring Update from the Lab

Happy Spring from Laptop Upcycle! Before we ask, and yes this is an ask, we would like to share a few of our accomplishments with you. The Laptop Upcycle team has made great progress in the past year.

• We met our goal of delivering 100 laptops to Montclair Public School students who needed them. In fact, we beat that goal by 10 machines. We've delivered 173 since we started.
• Additionally, we gave out 49 free wifi hot spots to families in Montclair last year.
• Last Fall we moved to a new larger lab down the Hall in the United Way building which is a positive change (it's brighter!) and gives us more space for testing and classes.
• We've added four new awesome volunteers (we are 100% volunteer run).
• Our partners at our public schools and other local nonprofits have helped us deliver on our goal of closing the technology gap for kids in our schools.

​Currently, we have a LOT going on. 

• In the past week we have been at Buzz Aldrin Middle School where we have had 12 students GET new laptops.
• We have received a GET request from our partner the Montclair Neighborhood Development Corporation for 25 students.
• We're working on some exciting and rewarding Summer intern and education programs we hope to tell you more about soon.

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Now on to the ask...
To continue our growth and success, we need your help in three areas.

1. Donate (GIVE) Laptops! With our deliveries picking up, we have the need to replenish our stock. If you have a recent vintage laptop gathering dust (Windows 7 or newer), please consider donating it to us. We'll zero out the drive and get you a tax donation letter. It would be EVEN BETTER if you could contact your network of friends and associates to see if they or their companies may have laptops they could donate. Please forward the link to this post far and wide! You may now drop off your laptop during normal business hours at the United Way Northern NJ (60 S Fullerton, next door to the library) security desk on the first floor. Be sure to say hi to Clarence or Patricia! As always, we will of course still pick them up.
2. Donate funds to our nonprofit. Laptop Upcycle is a part of HackNCraftNJ which is a federally recognized 501c3 nonprofit. Our overhead is low, but we do still need to pay rent and buy parts for laptops we repair. Please consider an online donation today.
3. Volunteer and join our team! This is the most important part of this ask, so here's a little more time and detail on what we are looking for. We are proud of our team and our growth in Montclair, and we are looking to continue this mission with enhanced education offerings and perhaps even an expansion of our deliveries to other surrounding communities. We are looking for volunteers who believe in our mission and want to help. In addition to the intern opportunities described here, we will need adults to help manage the classes and workshops we are working on for the Summer and assist with forming the strategy for a longer term set of technology classes. Beyond this, we hope to expand all areas of our operations. We have too many fun things to list (we do have a list), but be assured that volunteering with us is worthwhile and you will learn some cool things. Join us!