I am at PodCamp at Neumont University today from 9 am to 5pm. Here’s the address if you’d like to drop by:

Neumont University
10701 South River Front Parkway, South Jordan, UT
Google Map

We are giving away two laptop bags. For every five dollars you donate to ERGS, you get a raffle ticket.

You’re invited to visit the Electroregeneration Society booth at the 2010 SLC PodCamp on March 26 at Neumont University. Come learn more about our mission, find out how we can serve you, or learn ways you can support ERGS. We’d love to get to know you or reconnect with you.

The next day (March 27) we’ll be holding our monthly board meeting at 10 a.m. at the warehouse. Our board meetings are open to the public and we encourage participation. Join us!

Kenyn, Sinaih, and Matt drove up from Utah Valley University to volunteer at the warehouse today. They’re students in a Spanish class that has a community service requirement. They chose to volunteer at ERGS and earn computers that they’ll place with Latin families in Utah County.

Kenyn, Sinaih, and Matt with their Electroregenerated computer.

The trio amassed 15 hours and took a computer to give to a deserving family. They’re planning to come back and rumor has it that several other students from their class will be volunteering, too. We’re not certain how word got to students at UVU, but we’re delighted to have their help. Thank you to everyone who helps us spread the word about the Electroregeneration Society!

The Servantes family joined us last week to earn a family computer. They came in together and combined their hours so that they could get their computer as quickly as possible. This is a common occurrence at the Electroregeneration Society — we see a lot of families that join us to obtain their very first family computer.

The Servantes Family

When you make a tax-deductible donation to the Electroregeneration Society, you help us make a very real difference in the community — and, more importantly, you enable positive changes in family’s lives, helping them achieve the educational, employment and interpersonal benefits that computers bring into all our lives. In addition to directly assisting families and individuals, your support for ERGS helps nonprofits throughout Utah (which in turn supports thousands more people).

Please help us continue to help others by clicking on the Donate button (on the right) and giving what you can. Thank you for supporting ERGS.

Jonathan Morrison of the Salt Lake City Bike Collective stopped by yesterday to pick up some computers that will help the Collective fulfill its mission to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society.

Jonathan Morrison of the SLC Bike Collective, with Electroregenerated computers.

The Bike Collective is a very similar to ERGS in its goals, programs, and the groups we both serve. The Collective has shared advice about its strategies for success with ERGS, and ERGS may be able to help the Collective with volunteer management systems. It’s a budding collaboration that we at ERGS look forward to building.

After months of behind the scenes work the ElectroRegeneration Society, in conjunction with Vox Pop Design, is pleased to announce the CORE scholarship. CORE stands for Computers for Ongoing Research and Education. The pilot program provides a computer free of charge to Timber Lake, South Dakota high school seniors. Students must commit to continuing their education at either a university or trade school in the fall of 2010. They also must complete a 500 word essay that answers the question “How has growing up in Timber Lake contributed to the person you have become?”

I am a Timber Lake High School alumni and early on into work with the ElectroRegeneration Society I saw the potential for creating a positive relationship. Timber Lake makes a good pilot candidate because (1) I have existing ties with teachers and administration to get a program like this in front of students, (2) the initial sample size is small and manageable, and (3) the surrounding Dewey County, according to US Census Bureau statistics, is one of the poorest per-capita in the United States. This first time through the goal is to discover the issues administering a scholarship like this presents; issues on how to promote, administer, and distribute. It is my hope, however, that we’ll be able to expand the program’s scope to other deserving areas as the ElectroRegeneration Society grows.

Please consider making a donation to the ElectroRegeneration Society (ERGSOC) to help further this and other worthwhile efforts. Funds are transferred via safe and secure Paypal transaction. ERGSOC is a 501(c)3 registered non-profit and all financial gifts are tax deductible. Also, if you are a business looking to dispose of used office electronics please consider donating to ERGSOC. Together we can continue to help deserving individuals reach their full potential.

Matthew Reinbold Creative Principal, Vox Pop Design

The Salt Lake City School District and The Electroregeneration Society are partnering to provide 10 internship opportunities for high school students in the District’s IT club. Potential interns have been interviewed, and successful candidates will be joining us tomorrow morning for a tour of the warehouse and an introduction to ERGS’ programs.

This opportunity to help students develop their IT skills and gain work experience helps fulfill an important part of our mission: to build relationships in the technology community and encourage technology education. We at ERGS are looking forward to a successful partnership.

Mario and Fabiola Arrazola volunteered with us recently. We were almost sorry to see them complete their 15 hours, because it meant they’d be leaving us with their computer — and we really liked having them around.  Still, we’re delighted that we could serve the Arrazolas. Like all of our volunteers, they served us as much or more than we served them.

If you need a computer, we’d love to have you join us at our warehouse, too. Check out our How to Get a Computer page for all the details, and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Mario and Fabiola with their Electroregenerated computer.

Al Chen stopped by today to donate some server hardware — and then stayed for a couple of hours to volunteer. He and Todd worked on laptops and discussed the merits of various Linux distributions.

Interestingly, this isn’t an uncommon occurrence. Many of our donors volunteer, and vice versa — the core strength of the Electroregeneration Society is the passion of our supporters. We appreciate support in all it’s forms, and are pleased to have Al join our growing ERGS family. Welcome, Al!

Volunteers Todd and Al, discussing a computer issue.

Emily from Project Read in Provo came by and bought four LCD monitors. Project Read provides a one-on-one tutorial program to enable functionally non-literate adults to improve their reading and writing skills sufficiently to meet their personal goals, function well in society, and become more productive citizens. Project Read tutors and staff respect the uniqueness of each individual and seek to enhance self-esteem through successful personal study and group interaction.

She wiped us out of LCD monitors, so if you have any old LCD monitors just sitting around your house, please donate them to ERGS. Your donation can help great people like the folks at Project Read. If you would like to donate money, please click on the PayPal button to the right. If you you have any LCD monitors or other old computer equipment that you would like to donate, click on the How to donate hardware link to the right.