PC Building & Donations
BEGINNINGS
How It Started: Technology for Kids
When I first decided I was going to donate computers to people and establishments in need, I ran into a problem. The problem being that I needed a lot of funds in order to achieve the impact I wanted. In order to get around this, I realized I could generate the money myself. I knew it was very common for people to sell custom gaming computers and after having built my own, I thought that would be the most viable course of action for me.
I did extensive research in order to learn what builds would yield the highest profit and after I felt I had a pretty good idea, I began purchasing the individual components needed to build these computers. Towards the beginning it took me about 3 hours per computer but as I built more, the time per computer shrank to close to 2 hours. I would build one of these profitable gaming computers then sell it on eBay or other marketplaces, then use the profits to build extremely cost effective computers that I would then donate. I found that I was able to acquire the funds to build a computer to donate every time I sold a computer.
I would scour electronics recycling yards to sort through the mountain of parts, often finding incredible deals such as $1 CPUs or RAM sticks. Parts were sold by the pound, rather than by their performance, so I used my knowledge of computer specifications to purchase incredible parts at heavily discounted prices. Building custom PCs on the cheap allowed to make high margins during a flip, whose proceeds I funneled back into purchasing more parts and constructing additional computers. After weeks of assembling, building, and installing operating systems, I was ultimately able to donate close to 50 computers that would go to people and kids in need—at no cost to them.
Hurricane Ian was extremely destructive to Florida. One place that was hit especially hard was Fort Meyers as many schools were destroyed. I organized a drive for the Fort Meyers school district and built 10 computers for donation to replace some of what was lost from the hurricane.
MISSION
Values, Vision, & Impact
During quarantine, many everyday things began to take place online that made me realize how important access to technology has become. My school was entirely online, and for a while, even many of my social interactions with friends took place online. This caused me to wonder about all the people who did not have access to the technology I had. How were they able to go about their lives at this difficult time when everything was transitioning online? I knew I had to do something.
I wanted to make computers accessible for as many people as possible, so I set up technology labs with computers that I constructed for three community centers. I thought this would be impactful because it gave a large amount of children a place that they could go to learn and gain experience with essential technology. Even if they did not have their own personal computers, they could access the equipment I built and donated.