[oclug] (Fwd) Information on the benefits for Computers for Schools Sharbot Lake

[tOM Trottier]

Any extra computers out there?

tOM

------- Forwarded message follows -------
From:    	"Chris Hallgren" <chris at landolakes.ca>
Subject: 	[compute] Information on the benefits for Computers for Schools Sharbot Lake
Date:    	Tue, 18 Nov 2003 15:41:17 -0500

Dear Mr. Trottier,

This information is sent to assist you in deciding what to do with retired 
computers from Abacurial. For more information you can access 
www.computersforschoolsontario.com.  

We are part of the Federal, non-profit program, which is administered from 
Toronto for Ontario. In the past we have been dependent on Toronto for 
computers to refurbish for schools in our area.  

Part of our current initiative is to approach companies in the Eastern Ontario 
area to solicit donations of retired computers for schools in this area. This 
allows companies to have a sense of ownership with the education of the 
children of the people who work for this company when they contribute to this 
program. It also allows us to become self-sustaining on the donations from our 
own community.  

We can accept any type of computer PC hardware, and issue a tax receipt for the 
market value of the donation. We test and refurbish, monitors, laptops, 
printers and desktop PCs. All of these items have found excellent use in our 
under-funded school system.  We also respect the confidentiality of the data on 
the computers we receive, and use a program from the RCMP to wipe the hard 
disks completely clean before installing licensed operating systems and 
software for the schools. With a few days notice, we can arrange a truck to 
pick up comptuters. Sometimes we are full and need to clear out computers to 
receive others, but this is usually not too long.  

The current school funding formula only deals with teaching based upon 
enrollment, and school councils and administration are anxious to increase the 
learning potential with additional resources. The gratitude expressed to us by 
teachers for the donations made by companies like Abacurial is truly rewarding. 

We would be grateful for any computers that are in storage due to upgrades. 
They do not need to be working, as we can solve most technical problems, and if 
we cannot boot it, the hardware becomes a source of parts used in refurbishing. 
If laptops are in the hardware you can donate, we would appreciate the power 
supplies and cords, as these are hard to get for some laptops.  

Thank you for your attention to this request

Chris Hallgren
phone: 613 279-1005
fax: 613 279-1006
24557 Highway 7
Sharbot Lake, ON, K0H 2P0

------- End of forwarded message -------
----  Abacurial Information Management Consultants ----
Tom A. Trottier, President		http://abacurial.com
758 Albert St, Ottawa ON Canada K1R 7V8 
N45.412 W75.714	+1 613 860-6633	fax:+1 775 307-4133
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little 
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
	-- Benjamin Franklin