Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 7-16-21

Local
Hillsborough County Tax Collector Donates Computer Surplus To Computer Mentors
Up to 200 computer hard drives to help local organiza- tion’s STEM mission
Nancy C. Millan and The Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s office donated 200 surplus computer hard drives and parts to Computer Men- tors of Tampa, FL.
The computer surplus gathers every three years through system updates or when systems become obso- lete for their processing soft- ware. Additional items like keyboards and computer ca- bles, and cords are also part of the donation.
“We are always so proud of what Ralph Smith is doing at Computer Mentors and the effects he has in our
community,” says Nancy C. Millan. “We are honored to be able to use our computer hard drive surplus to help him with his mission to pro- vide for our underserved youth in Hillsborough County,” she continued.
Computer Mentors works to build opportunity through expertise by establishing and building upon a fundamental skillset covering program- ming, entrepreneurism, pub- lic speaking, and more. Computer Mentors gives its students the tools and talent they need to become savvy, self-starting achievers in a tech-centric world. They do this by sharing technology re- sources that help them de- velop a professional skill set
From left: Robyn Donaldson, Founder, STEM Xposure; Nancy C. Millan, Hillsborough County Tax Collector, and Ralph Smith, Founder and Executive Director, Computer Mentors.
that will help them secure quality employment and gain real-world experiences by giving back to the commu- nity.
Computer Mentors is giv- ing 80 of the donated hard drives to a local STEM pro- gram, STEM Xposure. They had reached out to Computer Mentors in need of devices for their camp program, “Re- vitalizing East Tampa” Archi- tectural Design and Construction.
The camp provides an op- portunity to expose and to en- gage minority students in our community to STEM careers and the impact of architec- tural design.
“The timing of this incred- ible donation was perfect! This is going to allow us to make sure every child in the STEM Xposure program will have a device to themselves and not have to share with their siblings or parents,” said Ralph Smith, founder and Executive Director of Com- puter Mentors. “They can in- dependently work by themselves and get their homework or projects done.”
“With 32 students in our program without a laptop or device, they couldn’t partici- pate fully. So, this donation means everything,” said Robyn Donaldson, founder of STEM Xposure.
How You Can Help
If companies or organiza- tions would like to donate computers, monitors, or other computer equipment, Computer Mentors is always in need. Learn more at https://computermentors.or g.
About STEM Xposure
STEM Exposure’s “Revi- talizing East Tampa” Archi- tectural Design and Construction camp provides an opportunity to expose and to engage minority students in our community to STEM careers and the impact of ar- chitectural design. Visit https://www.stem- xposure.com to learn more.
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