Main fundraiser photo

Learning To Be The Light

Learning To Be The Light (LTBTL) was founded in 2011 to help place computers and laptops into the homes of low-income students in the Hoover, Alabama area.

Robin Schultz and Olivia Lenamond take in PCs that people no longer need, wipe off the information, re-install the operating system, various programs, and get it ready for a deserving student. LTBTL will not only provide the student with the PC, but also a monitor, printer and Wi-Fi router. The only thing the student's parents have to provide is internet access. If the student is a junior or senior in high school, LTBTL will also provide them with a laptop for the student's use. All computers and laptops are for the student and his/her family to keep.

Currently LTBTL is NOT a non-profit organization (501 (3)(c) ), which means that when people give LTBTL items such as laptops, computers, printers, etc., they are NOT donations. Not being a non-profit also means that LTBTL cannot take advantage of the great price breaks that companies such as Microsoft give to non-profits. Becoming a non-profit is not cheap, so that's one of the items we're raising money for. We'd like to become a non-profit, which would increase donations, and provide price-breaks on software and hardware (see below).

Most of the PCs and laptops that are given to us have older operating systems on them, such as Windows XP or Vista. Although they are functional, they are not as up to date as Windows 7 and Windows 8. When we refurbish a computer, we can only install the original operating system (OS) in it. We'd like to be able to install Windows 7 on the PCs, but doing so costs about $150 per computer. Having the ability to purchase a better OS for the student is another reason we're raising money.

Another item we're raising money for is ink for printers. People do give us some nice printers, but most of them do not have ink or toner, which sometimes costs more than buying a new printer. We'd like to give the students a printer with ink in it when we set up their PC in their home.

Finally, we also would like to be able to give the student nice peripherals, such as new keyboards and new mice, monitors, as well as wi-fi routers, so we're also raising money for these.

We realize that once we're a non-profit, we'll be able to seek donations from local businesses for many of the above items, but we need to get a start.

We believe that every student, regardless of what their parents' income is, deserves to be on a level playing field when it comes to technology, which is why we started Learning To Be The Light.We want all students to have the same opportunities when it comes to computer equipment and software.
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Donations 

  • Anita Harris
    • $15 
    • 7 yrs
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Organizer

Robin Schultz
Organizer
Birmingham, AL

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