Free Geek will be closed for Staff In-Service on four consecutive Tuesdays in spring 2012. Dates of closure include February 21st, February 28th, March 6th, and March 13th. We will be open as normal during the In-Service weeks on Wednesday through Saturday.
Local sustainability and education blog “itsallonething” applies System Dynamics Theory to Free Geek’s e-cycling efforts here.
Eric Winger, local blogger and volunteer extraordinaire, participated in the 2012 MLK Weekend of Service, sponsored by Hands On Greater Portland and United Way, by disassembling printers with a volunteer group in Free Geek’s Recycling department. You can read about his experiences here.
Do you know a K-12 student who attends school in Portland and can use a free computer? Help us spread the word to parents, teachers and principals that Free Geek offers free computers to Portland K-12 students who complete 24 hours of volunteer service. Students can complete their volunteer service in any number of ways including in their communities, schools, churches or other community-oriented organizations.
Students should be able to provide supervisor contact information, so we can confirm the volunteer hours were completed successfully. Before getting a free computer, monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard they must also attend a “Getting Started” class so they will know how to setup and use their computer when they bring it home with them that day.
For more information, or to input your request for a free computer, please visit our Plug Into Portland information page. If you know a teacher, principal or school director who might be interested in more information, please give them this flyer explaining the program.
"I believe that voting is the first act of building a community as well as building a country. " - John Ensign
Free Geek has recently restructured our governance model, and we are pleased to announce the winners of our recent election for the board positions of Volunteer Representative! Read on to hear from our Board President, Laurel Hoyt.
Louisa from SE Uplift shows off a new laptop.
This year we granted a half dozen laptops to SE Uplift to be used by staff in order to support Southeast neighborhoods. The employees at SE Uplift are involved in a variety of organizations and participate on various boards and advisory committees. Laptops allow them to serve their community members in a more efficient and professional manner as much of their work takes place outside of their office headquarters. The mission of SE Uplift is to assist the citizens and neighborhood associations of Southeast Portland to create communities that are livable, socially diverse, safe and vital.
Free Geek Volunteer and Grant Shepherd Nate Lee chats with Ani Haines of KBOO
The donation of a double record cleaner presented a dilemma: it was too large to store for long and definitely too cool to recycle. We needed someone who needed a record cleaner and could pick it up fast. It was time for the Hardware Grants team to play matchmaker–we called Ani Haines at KBOO, and she was happy to pick it up that day and take it to its new home. Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match….!
Last Week’s Grant Recipients:
Portland Organic Productions Serenity Homes of Oregon
Paranormal & Occult Research Team
Our United Villages/The Rebuilding Center
Salem/Keizer Coalition for Equality
Rebuilding Dreams, Washington County Adult Drug Court Alumni Association
Synod of Livingstonia, Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian (CCAP)
Boy Scouts of America Troop 542
Check out this picture of the awesome light array we granted to the NE Portland Rotary Club!
The NE Portland Rotary Club is holding a fundraiser with Scream At the Beach in the form of a haunted house. Stay tuned for more details closer to the event in October. The Rotary Club will also be using Free Geek computers, printers, and speakers to do some of the behind-the-scenes work in making the haunted house as creepy as possible.
Last Week’s Grant Recipients:
Oregonians for Renewable Energy Policy
Adorned in Grace
North Portland Bible College
St. Johns Main Street Coalition
Oregonians for Renewable Energy Policy
The Inn Home for Boys
Roosevelt High School
Richmond Oxford House
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Village Child Care
Outside In
Metropolitan Learning Center
Oregon Crystal Meth Anonymous
Neighborhood House
Westside Community Focus
Stop Child Trafficking Now
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“Free Geek has enabled us to develop our technological capacity enormously! We’ve used grant boxes to set up our new, web-based POS and appointment system, as well as providing workstations for our staff and practitioners to use. They’ve also provided responsible and affordable e-cycling of our old equipment. Free Geek helped us grow our business while keeping costs down AND reducing waste. We are delighted to have them as a local Portland resource.” -Joel Brock, Common Ground Wellness Center
Last Week’s Grant Recipients: |
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| Portland Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) | |||||||
| Woodlawn Elementary School | |||||||
| Fraternal Order of Eagles, Hermiston Aerie# 2909 | |||||||
| Rebuilding Dreams, Washington County Adult Drug Court Alumni Association | |||||||
| Art Waves | |||||||
| Maranatha Church Missions Dept | |||||||
| Portland Homeless Family Solutions | |||||||
| Common Ground Wellness Center | |||||||
Representatives from St. Maries Christian School made a 7 hour drive from Idaho to pick up computers from Free Geek! Here are the computers in action.
Last Week’s Grant Recipients:
World Vietnamese Buddhist Order
Oregon Chapter of the Scleroderma Foundation
Friends of Columbia Park – Tinker Camp
Salem Area Chamber of Commerce Outside In
More Roads To Learning
Computer Solutions Baja California Picks Up A Large Grant From Free Geek
Story of the Week: Steve Harris Oxford House, Albany, Oregon
“We provide clean and sober living for addicts and alcoholics in recovery. The equipment we have received from Free Geek is used to assist the residents of our house with the ability to perform work searches on line, access e-mail, build resumes, as well as being used to help manage the house. Despite initial concern with OS familiarity our residents have found the Linux/Ubuntu system to be extremely user friendly and have adapted very well indeed.”
Other Grant Recipients:
SnowCap Community Charities
Oregon City Preschool
Vancouver Baracks Military Organization (VBMA)
Unconditional Love
Project Access NOW
Young Men of Awareness
Peace Planet Project
Through The Storm-Kern Park Christian Church
More Roads To Learning
Goldendale Christian School
Cascadia Wild
Mental Health Association of Portland
Richmond Oxford House Read More…
Representatives from Straightway Services Pick Up Their Computers
Straightway Services exists to provide at-risk youth the skills they need in order to be successful academically and in the working world. During there annual summer program 10 to 30 youth receive employment, environmental education, and valuable experience serving their community. Free Geek provided Straightway Services with ten computers, which will be used as part of the computer skills training program.
Other Grant Recipients:
Lake Oswego School District CNS
Geo Answers
Dignity Village
Edwards Center
Elkhorn Eagles Auxilary #3456
Lewis & Clark Plaza
As of June 14th, our new hours of operation are 10 AM to 6 PM, Tuesday through Saturday. Volunteer orientation tours will be given at 11 AM and 4 PM, with tours in Spanish on Saturdays at 2 PM. Tech Support hours will remain 12 PM – 6 PM.
Why Are We Doing This?
In order to better serve the community, we have decided to change our hours of operation. This means our thrift store and donations center will open one hour earlier, when there is a higher demand for our services.
How Does This Affect Volunteers?
Most volunteer shifts will begin one hour earlier and end one hour earlier.
But Wait! I Have More Questions!
We’re here to help. Email us at hours (at) freegeek dot org.
Photography by Shawn Linehan
Spanish Build started in September 2010 and is currently in its second phase. The first phase was greatly successful thanks to our two co-coordinators, many dedicated volunteer instructors, interns and enthusiastic students.
Hector Salazar, one of our Spanish Build instructors, takes a moment to share his smile.
Our ability to build computers depends on the hard work of our volunteers and the generosity of our donors. We have machines just waiting for a few specific pieces of hardware before they are transformed in to Freekboxen and given back to the our community. Check out our list of hardware needs, and if you have any (or know how to get them!), let us know!
Mid-Valley Literacy Center
“The desktop computers will be used for a student computer lab that we are in the process of developing. Most of our students don’t have computers or internet access. We need a computer lab where our tutors will be able to provide additional instruction for GED and ELL students so they can improve their skills faster and learn basic computer operations. On-line GED exercises are free and will support and enhance the current instruction provided by our tutors. Computer access will also better enable our unemployed students to increase their job search efforts. The laptop computer will be used in our tutor training sessions to assist our trainers in conducting the training presentations. Our training takes place in a variety of locations and a laptop computer will enable our trainers to enhance the training program through the use of power point presentations.”
Cascadia Wild
“Cascadia Wild is a Portland-based nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting local citizens with nature. We combine modern ecology with knowledge of the ancient ways of living with the earth, teaching a unique curriculum of animal tracking, edible plants, wilderness survival, and sensory awareness. By providing individuals with a greater understanding of the natural world, Cascadia Wild seeks to instill a sense of place in nature and to transform how people perceive their role in the cycle of life. The computers will be used for office functions such as communications, website maintenance, and bookkeeping. Programs we will run on them include: word processing, web browsing, bookkeeping, document creation, photo editing, and TOPO! mapping program.”
Hunde Nagaya
Mid-Valley Literacy Center
IT HELPS
Global Deaf Connection
Paranormal & Occult Research Team
Urban Progress
Kiwanis Camp Wa-ri-ki
Mill Park Elementary School
OryCon
NAMI Clackamas County
KBOO
Northwest Children’s Theater and School
Bradley Angle
Hacienda Community Development Corporation
St. Agatha Catholic School
These Numbers Have Faces
On-the-Move Community Integration
Global Deaf Connection
Society for Haitian Arts and Culture
Caritas Villa (Catholic Charities)
Fuse Theatre Ensemble
Markham Children’s Care Association
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
West Salem High School
World Vietnamese Buddhist Order
Non-Stop Cooperative
Outside In
Young Men of Awareness
Steve Baker Colorectal Cancer Alliance (SBCCA)
Cafe Of The Masses
Bridges to Change
TaborSpace Community Center
Troy Schools New Horizons Learning Center
BIRRDsong (Brain Injury Information Referral and Resource Development)
Oak Hills Elementary
YWCA Salem
Powers To Be Church of Christ
North Santiam Gleaners
Portland Homeless Family Solutions
Lincoln High School Robotics Team
Comprehensive Housing Consultant
Mt Tabor Little League
Trillium Charter School
Oregon Universal
Tool Shed
New Orleans Food Coop
Ano’s Art Academy
Oregon Green Free
Portland State University Sánchez Nano-Development Lab
Life House Fellowship Church
Outside In
Westside Community Focus
MIKE Program (Multicultural Integrated Kidney Education Program)
Miracle Village Academy
Oregon Fair Trade Campaign
Get A Life Marching Band
Dignity Village
Hunde Nagaya
Paranormal & Occult Research Team
Molalla River Academy
“I’d like to thank Free Geek for their generous donation of 11 modeling computers. I can’t even imagine completing this project without this resource. This donation saved me an uncountable number of hours. Thanks, solely to this donation, I was able to run 13 models at any given time. Many of these models would take 5 days to run. I would still be running models were it not for them.”
Jeff Doughty, Portland State University Sánchez Nano-Development Lab
Portland State University Sánchez Nano-Development Lab
The Braindump @ Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science
Northwest Housing Alternatives
Community Help Institute for Learning and Development
Gunners Baseball Club Association (GBCA)
Organizing for Communities
Outside In
Caritas Villa (Catholic Charities)
Steve Baker Colorectal Cancer Alliance (SBCCA)
St. Maries Christian School
