Suppose the 68kMLA had a charitable aspect to it, ie: we find/fix old macs and give them to an organization like this. I've got a couple macs I was planning to use, but I wouldn't cry if they went to these guys instead. Talk about finding them a good home. This is from the Chicago Tribune.
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Lawndale kids give time, get treasure
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By Donna Freedman
Tribune staff reporter
December 9, 2001
A Lawndale man has found a way to get computers to people who need
them while encouraging folks to contribute to their community.
Bill Goosby runs the North Lawndale Time Dollar project, which lets
young volunteers earn a refurbished Macintosh computer in exchange
for 20 hours of pitching in.
Nicholas Hollis, 11, shoveled snow in his neighborhood, and planted
flowers and cleaned up the office at Our Lady of Lourdes Church to
earn his Mac, which he uses to play games.
But he got more than just the ability to play video games. Before
Time Dollar, he said, "People wouldn't trust us to help." Now he's
discovered the joy of service.
"If you give something that you know people need," Nicholas said, "it
makes you feel real good."
That's what Goosby wants to hear. A freelance computer consultant, he
started the program three years ago as an experiment in creating "an
alternative community economy." Goosby believes that low-income
people too often end up in debt just to obtain basic life
necessities. When he heard about a national program called Time
Dollar, he thought it would be a perfect match for his neighborhood.
Time Dollar, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is based on the
concept that everyone has something to give. A participant "earns"
one Time Dollar for each hour of volunteering. These can be exchanged
for goods or services within the Time Dollar community.
Those goods and services vary depending on what other participants
are volunteering. Programs in other cities offer everything from
baby-sitting to carpentry to karate lessons. Chicago's Cross-Peer
Tutoring program, which lets kids earn computers by tutoring other
children, is based on Time Dollar concepts.
Goosby studied the CPT program before setting up his own. Since then,
he has given away about 50 computers. Countless other Macs are
stockpiled in public storage facilities and in the basements and
closets of friends waiting to be given.
Most of the computers are discards from local businesses, the city
school district, and the University of Chicago. They range from
practically new to "dead and rusted--parts only," Goosby said.
A grant from the North Lawndale Community Small Grants Initiative
covers half his storage costs. The rest is paid by a local Macintosh
users group called The Rest Of Us, whose members also donate
computers and software.
"He's touching lives," said group president Barbara Passman.
"Computers that would be thrown out are going to people who can use
them."
The average Time Dollar youth is between the ages of 9 and 13,
although some are older. Most come from impoverished homes and
wouldn't be able to get a computer any other way, according to
Goosby. The few who already own computers can exchange their hours
for software or a printer.
Not every child who starts the program finishes it. Some move away;
others lose interest. Getting service hours can be difficult, too.
Most Time Dollar youths volunteer through Our Lady of Lourdes Church,
one of the first organizations to join Goosby's project. But Sister
Caritas Wehrman doesn't always have enough time to supervise more
volunteers.
However, she does "try to drop everything" and find a job for the
kids when they ask, she said. "They need that idea, that they do have
something they can give," Wehrman said.
She's had kids pick up trash outside the church, decorate for the
holidays, help with the annual penny carnival, pull weeds and plant
flowers, and sort food-pantry donations and library materials. When
snow and ice built up last winter, Wehrman took a crew of youths out
to scrape sidewalks clear.
Young people don't have to volunteer through Our Lady of Lourdes.
Goosby will work with anyone who can verify his community service.
Recently, a minister from Hoffman Estates paid Time Dollars to people
who helped gut a building and construct a chapel. Then those workers
donated their computers back to the church.
Goosby would like to work with groups all over the West Side, but he
said each group needs to take charge of its own Time Dollar program.
"I show them how to start it, and I provide the computers," he said.
He would also like the project to give away more than Macs. Goosby
said a group could plant a garden as a community service and sell the
produce for Time Dollars. A thrift shop could allow Lawndale
residents to exchange their volunteer hours for clothing and
household goods.
Goosby said that Time Dollar shows people that they can contribute
something worthwhile to their communities.
"What I'm trying to get into their heads is that their work is worth
more than cash," he said.
Angel King, 12, already feels that way. She has earned 10 Time Dollar
hours so far, mostly by picking up trash outside Our Lady of Lourdes.
Angel is eager to get a computer, which she'll use for homework and
to "write poems about my life." But even if she never gets it, she's
already benefited.
"I feel like I'm helping others, and making our [neighborhood] a
better place," Angel said. "It's making a difference in my life."
Copyright (c) 2001, Chicago Tribune
{ candyPunk }
{ Captain of Observation, 68k MLA }
{ Macs liberated: 6 }
{ My baby: Q660av }
An idea
Posted - 20 Dec 2001 : 09:45:25
68k of the Week: kastegir's PowerBook 180.