Virtually all of the thousands of computers PCF has donated to families, schools and other programs over the years, were donated to us. And the process is fairly straightforward: individuals or companies donate the computers, we wipe the data, refurbish them as needed, put Linux on them and then gift them to whoever with matching chargers, power cords, monitors, etc. In the early days, we would have to wire them up (switches, routers, etc) for internet access but with the advent of Wi-fi, that has become a lot simpler.
But when we received an application from Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School, we realized that even the most powerful laptop we ever received from a donor wasn’t powerful enough, and we needed 20 of them. The High School was preparing their students for work-study programs in the field of GIS (geographic information systems). These computers do the mapping of large amounts of data and required an especially powerful processor.
PCF then spent the time to raise money for the program after Board member Greg Bermon came up with the specs of the computers we’d be buying. The Lankenau teacher was extremely grateful and wrote PCF and our donor a very nice thank you letter itemizing the impact of our donation.
At PCF, we feel fortunate that we were able to raise the money needed from a single donor and facilitate the donation of this technology.
View their Thank-You letter below:
