Corporations For Community Connections team up with United Way to Bridge Digital Divide

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Corporations For Community Connections team up with United Way to Bridge Digital Divide

Train delivering hundreds of free computers, from Windsor to Quebec City makes a stop in Kingston on March 13

Kingston, ON (March 13, 2020) – Many not for profit agencies in the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington community will receive laptops this week thanks to a partnership between Corporations For Community Connections (CFCC) and United Way Centraide Canada.

CFCC and their corporate partners share a commitment to preserving the environment, supporting education, and providing access to technology. As a result, they’re teaming up to bridge the digital divide. Over the next few weeks, hundreds of laptops will be refurbished, loaded onto trains, and delivered to people in need.

Canadians living without computer access feel increasingly isolated as online education, communication and government services continue to replace paper systems. Philip Schaus, President and CEO of Corporations For Community Connections, states, “We are very grateful to our corporate partners for their commitment to society. The donation and distribution of these laptops is a perfect example of their social and environmental responsibility, supporting education and providing essential access to our digital world.”

CFCC partners with companies to prepare old computers for donation and partner company employees and their families help refurbish laptops in volunteer workshops. Siemens Canada has donated over 600 decommissioned laptops and more than 100 Siemens employees volunteered for workshops conducted by CFCC in Oakville, Peterborough and Montréal, refurbishing the laptops and preparing them for their new owners.

“This is great for local agencies as many of them are unable to afford new technology for themselves or their clients,” said Bhavana Varma, President and CEO of United Way, Kingston Frontenac, Lennox and Addington. “Our community really appreciates the work that CFCC does and this donation will help people in our community directly.”

In addition to the refurbished laptops, SMART Technologies is donating over 50 smart boards. These SMART kapp 42 devices allow people to share problems, ideas, solutions and plans, across the room, or even across the world.

Laptops and smart boards are being delivered, through a partnership with VIA Rail, to Windsor, London, Oakville, Kingston, Montreal and Quebec City. In the KFL&A community, 6 smart boards and 60 laptops will be distributed to 20 agencies in the community.

About Corporations for Community Connections
Founded in 2010, Corporations For Community Connections, Inc. (CFCC) is a registered charity whose purpose is to refurbish decommissioned corporate computers for distribution to schools, charities and people in need. To date, CFCC has refurbished over 3600 computers for donation to over 50 charitable organizations and schools serving over 45,000 people. CFCC encourages corporations to adopt refurbishment as a cost effective, socially and environmentally responsible disposal alternative for computers. For more information on CFCC, visit www.c4cc.ca

About United Way of KFL&A
United Way works with individuals, organizations and key partners in KFL&A to build and strengthen the community, bringing people and resources together to facilitate change. Our vision is a future where people are self-sufficient in a community, where individuals live with hope, dignity and a sense of belonging. Visit www.unitedwaykfla.ca for more information.

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Media Contacts:

Philip Schaus, President and CEO
Corporations For Community Connections, Inc. (CFCC)
226-340-1708, philip.schaus@c4cc.ca

Mandy Pasch, Manager, Marketing and Communications
United Way KFL&A
613-542-2674, ext. 1204, marketing@unitedwaykfla.ca

Agencies receiving laptops through this initiative

Rural Frontenac Community Services

Independent Living Centre Kingston

March of Dimes Canada

Epilepsy South Eastern Ontario

Kingston Youth Shelter

Southern Frontenac Community Services

Elizabeth Fry Society of Kingston