2020 Recap

Happy New Year from us at Minnesota Computers for Schools! 

We all know that 2020 was a rough year. With a global pandemic, raging wildfires, the imperative fight for racial justice, and turbulent politics, we’ve all had struggles and battles. Yet there was good too– and we want to take a moment to share some of our 2020 highlights, made possible by all of our supporters.

Last January, we completed our NAID certification, which verifies secure data destruction on donated used technology. This certification has helped us increase computer donations, which in turn helps us increase the amount of computers we can provide to students and schools across the state. 

On that note, we refurbished and placed a total of 5,752 computers in students’ homes and in schools across Minnesota. We were grateful to be able to help students who were forced to stay home for distance learning as a result of the pandemic. 

We welcomed 39 new corporate equipment donors and partnered with Affinity Plus and KARE 11 for a seven week tech drive this summer at 16 branches. We collected 60,247 pounds of used tech from 1,554 individuals and impacted 408 students like Sarah Anne. 

We continued to provide IT workforce training to 179 students virtually. We’re proud of our teachers for pivoting their classes to continue instructing in a pandemic, and so proud of our students for putting in the hard work to complete the classes. The skills they learned will set them up to start a career in IT.

All together, we recycled 198,583 pounds of e-waste, keeping it out of landfills. Our mission to provide digital equity goes hand in hand with reducing e-waste and taking care of our environment. 2020 made it quite clear that there is no other way.

Finally, we’d like to say thank you to everyone who has been with us. We’re excited for the light and hope that 2021 will bring, and will continue to work hard to provide digital equity to students all across Minnesota.