re//BUILD.IT Community gives 250th Computer Donation

August 31, 2021
For Immediate Release:

STEAM Centre’s re//BUILD.IT Community program gives its 250th computer donation

St Thomas, ON: The STEAM Education Centre’s award winning re//BUILD.IT Community computer donation program today marks their 250th computer donation. This program provides free refurbished computers to students, Indigenous communities and people with limited means, ensuring our most vulnerable can stay connected and achieve their potential. With more people being forced to learn and work from home due to the pandemic the community requests have been great since the pandemic’s inception and requests continue to come in daily.

“We launched the computer donation program when local social workers and literacy organizations reached out for help. One year later, with HUGE thanks to generous supporters and technology donors, we celebrate donating our 250th computer!”, said Jessica Gransaull, Executive Director of the STEAM Centre.

The program truly is a community effort with many local donors and organizations helping to ensure the program’s success including the Government of Canada/United Way, Green Lane Trust, Elgin Business Resource Centre, Kinsmen Club of St Thomas, MASCO, Diply, Century Sound and dmac Automation. The program was recognized in November 2020 by Future of Good’s digital summit (https://www.futureofgoodsummit.org/) as a Top 100 recovery project in Canada. Future of Good recognizes local projects that help communities bounce back from the pandemic’s social and economic impacts.

"The opportunities that Steam Education has provided our clients is beyond amazing."
- RSSW, Transition to Employment, Mental Health Worker

“I just wish to extend my deepest thanks to all of you for the work you do. I just recently received a computer through your program and I must say it is beyond anything I could have expected, let alone afford. The ability to reconnect with my family in London and British Columbia has been such a gift that I really cannot express it enough, and the hardware itself is amazing.” 
- Christopher, re//BUILD.IT Community computer recipient

The success of this program is dependent upon public and corporate computer donations, with the greatest current need being laptops. The need for access to equipment has not stopped and the Centre faces a regular 20-30 person waiting list for those in need. To support this program and to discover further details visit the program web page at: https://www.steameducation.ca/rebuildit.html#/

About STEAM Education Centre:
The mission of STEAM Centre is to educate and empower learners to imagine and create the future through play, ingenuity, and innovation using science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM). This is achieved through comprehensive hands-on school programs, leadership programs engaging students at all levels in prototyping solutions, and essential skill building programs featuring coding and creating using traditional tools and emerging technologies.

Contact:
Denise Love
Community and Communications Coordinator 
[email protected]
226-212-0048