Sherburne County  is helping people in the community get connected with technology.

 

Last week, the county board approved a plan by the Information Technology (IT) Dept. to use PCs for People to recycle and refurbish the county’s older computers so they can be distributed to people who need computers - at no cost.

 

PCs for People is a non-profit organization that provides free or low-cost computers to families in need.

 

The organization is already working with the county and the Blandin Foundation on the Broadband Communities project, which was started to help spread high-speed internet to unserved and underserved parts of the county, and help people get more familiar with techology.

 

As part of that program, each member partner received 50 computers from PCs for People to distribute in its community.

 

Assistant County Administrator Dan Weber says 28 people have already signed up through Central Minnesota Jobs & Training Services (CMJTS) to receive some of those computers. Another 10 will be going to the Guardian Angels in Elk River for seniors, and the Sherburne County Fair Board will be getting one.

 

“We still have 11 for public use and hope to distribute them within the next month or two,” says Weber.

 

IT Director Brian Kamman says with the board approving the plan, PCs for People will be getting 75 desktop computers and 50 laptops from the county to refurbish and distribute.

 

“We replace all of our desktops and laptops on a four-year cycle,” says Kamman. “So these are 2011 computers.”

 

The desktops come with towers, keyboard and a mouse. There are two different Hewlett-Packard laptops, a 15” ProBook 6550B and a 17” 4730S. All the computers run Windows 7.

 

“We’ll provide those to PCs for People. They’ll wipe the data and make sure there isn’t any county data available to anybody on those computers,” he says. “They’ll re-set up the equipment, then provide it to communities in Sherburne County and across Minnesota.”

 

Kamman says in the past, the county tried re-selling some of its old equipment internally, without a lot of success.

 

“We were finding the amount of labor we had dedicated to it was more expensive than anything the county was getting back,” he says.

 

In the past few years the county used a for-profit recycler from Anoka. This year, when the county did a request-for-proposal to recycle its electronics, they decided to go with PCs for People. 

 

“They responded and they’re doing it at no cost and redistributing it to the community,” says Weber. “We thought it was a win-win for everybody.”

 

PCs for People typically works through schools and Workforce Centers to do mass distribution. Sam Drong from PCs for People says schools will identify students who qualify for the program, often by looking at school lunch programs and contacting those families.

 

PCs’ website has information about eligibility standards. Typically, a recipient must be below the 50% poverty level, or can be enrolled in some other assistance program, like food support, Head Start and Social Security Disability.

 

Drong says his organization will be working with schools in Sherburne County and the Workforce Center to distribute the computers. 

 

PCs for People also accepts donations of computers from businesses, organizations and individuals. They are located at 1481 Marshall Ave. in St. Paul.

 

The company can be contacted by phone at 651-354-2552, email at info@pcsforpeople.org, or check their website at http://www.pcsforpeople.com.