Donate Computers — Bridge Digital Divide
Corrections or additions?
This article by Kathleen McGinn Spring was prepared for the June
5, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Free Student Helpers
If you are perennially short-handed (and who isn’t?)
and you work for the government or a nonprofit, you may be able to
tap energetic student help from Rutgers. Rutgers Citizenship and
Service
Education Program (CASE) matches students with jobs. The students
learn about the value of community service while earning academic
credits, and the organization gets help for free.
A Community Partner Conference on Tuesday, June 18, from 8:30 a.m.
to 12:30 p.m. will help the community organizations get the assistance
they need to advance their programs, and future student participants
also attend. The conference will be held at the Busch Campus Center,
604 Bartholomew Road, Piscataway. Call 732-932-8660, ext. 15.
"Rutgers students have a tremendous amount of talent to
offer,"
says
to help our community partners use CASE for maximum benefit. Our
students
do everything from general office support to building websites to
organizing activities for seniors. A CASE placement can supplement
the workforce or services of a nonprofit or government agency."
Last year more than 1,000 students contributed more than 75,000 hours
of community service at nearly 150 organizations, and at minimum wage
these hours amounted to nearly $500,000.
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Substitute Teachers
In today’s tough job market, one method for staying
financially afloat is to combine a job search with substitute teaching
assignments. But even if you feel confident in your math or English
knowledge, the thought of facing a classroom of grinning or glowering
adolescents may deter you.
Solution: Attend a three-day substitute teaching workshop at Raritan
Valley Community College, Wednesday to Friday, June 26 to 28, 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m. Cost: $165 including continental breakfasts, workbook, and
certificate for 1.5 continuing education units. Call 908-526-1200,
ext. 8404.
An experienced school district superintendent will be your instructor
for such topics as building positive first impressions, connecting
your personal experiences to content areas, meeting teacher
expectations,
implementing lesson plans, and managing student behavior. Experienced
substitute teachers and principals will also offer tips.
Designed for both prospective and veteran substitute teachers of all
grade levels, this course will cover how to get certified, job
functions,
and the all important "classroom" strategies, which might
otherwise be known as Spitball Deterrent 101.
"Transitioning into Education I and II," a fall course at
RVCC, is for those who think they might want to make a career out
of teaching but aren’t sure if they have the skills needed for
success.
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Donate Computers — Bridge Digital Divide
If your office is upgrading its fleet of computers and
would like to get a tax deduction and also help someone in need, let
the Trenton Materials Exchange recycle your equipment. TME puts used
computers into the hands of people and organizations that need them.
Founded in four years ago by
Exchange,
a struggling one-person operation with a home office, this nonprofit
is in the black and has expanded 12-fold. It has even garnered an
article in the New York Times. With a two-person staff plus part
timers
and volunteers, TME leases a warehouse on New York Avenue. In its
early days, TME just recycled and redistributed old office equipment
and computers, but it now rehabilitates computers and sells or donates
them.
Bring your computers and equipment to TME’s drop-off center at 800
New York Avenue on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or Saturdays from
9 to 1 p.m., or make an appointment by calling Royal or Jeri LaPlaca
at 609-278-0033
TME has someone to process the donations; you can be sure the material
on your hard drive will be erased before the computer goes to the
next owner. TME can take your computer — with or without its
monitor
— and put a computer system together for someone who has never
had one. "We can use a high quantity of computers that are still
working," says LaPlaca. She particularly hopes that companies
that are upgrading their working Pentiums will consider donating them.
Donations will help bridge the "digital divide," perhaps in
the homes of disadvantaged school children.
In addition to computers, TME can accept and sell copiers, printers,
fax machines, answering machines, telephones, overhead equipment,
typewriters, and radios — any kind of office equipment. Donors
who are not nonprofits pay a $5 fee for recycling a terminal, because
of its hazardous materials. Anyone who can use any of these donations
is asked to make a donation in return.
TME does not take kitchen items like blenders and microwaves. Turn
to the webpage, www.tmex.org, to get the address of somewhere to take
a microwave, which is particularly difficult to recycle properly.
The web page has photos of TME’s for-sale merchandise and links to
useful sites, such as one where you can download a missing instruction
book.
LaPlaca, a physical therapist and home health nurse, focuses on
collecting
and selling used medical supplies — hospital beds, walkers,
commodes,
you name it. "When someone gets sick they need a lot of equipment
at home, and then there is a glut when they don’t need it," says
LaPlaca. She prices the medical equipment on a sliding scale and has
sold a $150 hospital bed for $5 to someone who is destitute.
"Discharge
planners call me about clients who have no equipment coverage or are
illegal immigrants. Right now, our agency is self supporting, but
I won’t keep people from getting what they need."
Box 693, Trenton 08604-0693. Carol W. Royal, director. fax,
609-278-4900. E-mail: croyal@tmex.org.
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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