Non-profit Computers for Kids Gets New Facility for Recycling PCs

By J. Gelband, 12-05-07

You have an old computer - what are you going to do with it? You can either take it to the desert and kick and smash it like in Office Space, effectively taking your technological frustrations out on an inanimate object, or you can recycle it.

The City of Boise would prefer you recycle it.

In fact, the city partnered with the non-profit organization Computers for Kids and has, in the last 10 months, recycled 1,300 surplus computers to kids who don’t have computers at home. 

Computers for Kids aims to reduce the digital divide that exists in our community by providing local children with home PCs with which to equalize their educational opportunities. Any child in the state of Idaho can request a computer from Computers for Kids and all the agency charges is a $35 processing fee, which can be waived if necessary. Any child who receives a computer can also apply for one year of tech support.

On Wednesday, Boise Mayor David Bieter helped open a new 7,100-square-foot Computers for Kids facility in Southwest Boise. “This is recycling at its finest,” Bieter said. “Not only are we helping to provide children with a valuable learning tool – we are also saving significant space in our landfills and preventing pollutants from contaminating our groundwater.”

Computers donated to the program go through a data sanitation procedure so no information is left on the computers when the kids get them. Even government agencies, including the FBI and school districts, send their surplus computers to the program.

The new building will house the Computers for Kids staff who do the sanitation procedures.

The program has 11 employees but is always seeking volunteers to help contact potential sponsors, research, write grants, refurbish computers and install software, work with kids, and more.