Company provides children, families in need with computers

Big things have small beginnings.

Molli Wingert's nonprofit started 10 years ago in a garage in Boise, Idaho. Today, Computers For Kids has provided hundreds of thousands of computers to students whose families cannot afford them.

In October, Wingert opened a Las Vegas office and has distributed nearly 2,000 computers to students in the Clark County School District. CFK operated solely in Idaho until the addition of the Las Vegas office.

Wingert's sister worked for the Boise Independent School District in 2002, and Wingert learned that the school district was about to throw out its computers and replace them. Wingert, CFK's CEO, said most businesses and organizations replaced their computers every three years when the economy was good. Today, it happens about every five years, she said.

The school district gave Wingert 20 of the unwanted and nonfunctioning computers, from which she and her son got 11 of them up and running.

"It was just a project we started, him and I," Wingert said. "We gave (the fixed computers) to his friends. ... The school district called the next week and said they had 1,500 more."

Wingert stored those computers in donated storage spaces in town, saying people were happy to help when they learned of her project.

When Wingert began looking to expand, she said there was a greater need in the nation's fifth-largest school district than others in nearby states.

In Idaho, CFK receives between 100 and 300 computer donations every day. Computers are "sanitized" - their hard drives are wiped clean - then tested for performance and assessed by an employee or volunteer. Some computers will be built up and others torn down for spare parts. Functionable items, such as motherboards and video cards, are collected and reassembled into new hodgepodge computers. Unused parts are sent to a recycling company. CFK employs about 20 in Idaho and four in Las Vegas.

CFK sells its computers for $35 to $65, unless a student is on the free and reduced lunch program, in which case, the computer is free. More than half of the 300,000-student Clark County School District receives free lunch. Wingert said about 75 percent of computers are given out free.

Students are required to do a little work for it, though. Wingert asks all students to write an essay explaining why they need a computer. The younger ones can draw a picture.

CFK also supplies schools and nonprofit organizations with computers for $65 each. Everyone who receives computers from CFK receives a year of free technical support, too. And students can keep up with technology by applying every year for a new computer until they graduate from college if they choose.

Paisley Yokomizo is studying at Carrington College in Boise, Idaho, to become a medical assistant. She has four children and two stepchildren and recently lost her apartment. The family is living with Yokomizo's parents.

She received two computers from CFK, one for her and one for her kids. The computers will save her frequent trips to the library so she and her kids can access the Internet and complete assignments.

"Since (schools) are switching a lot of stuff to online classwork, it's going to help them out to be able to do that," Yokomizo said. "I had the option of getting more than (two computers), but I didn't want to take them away from others. There are a lot of kids that also need computers."

For anyone about to toss an unwanted computer in the trash, Wingert asks them to instead bring it by the CFK office at 5180 S. Cameron St., Suite 2. Wingert also said she is looking for volunteers to help with the computer breakdown and buildup. No computer experience is required, she said.

For any businesses looking to unload large quantities of computers, CFK can make pickups. For more information, call 702-366-0909.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 702-224-5524.