Programs

Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC)

In the Spring of 2010, the US Department of Commerce announced that the Blandin Foundation and nineteen coalition partners received a $4.7 million grant award on behalf of rural Minnesota communities. PCs for People was one of those nineteen partners. During our two years of involvement with this program, we will distribute 1,000 computers to families in rural Minnesota.

The goal of the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) coalition is to bring a network of resources and support to rural Minnesota individuals and communities - especially those unemployed and seeking employment, small businesses, coalitions of government entities, and local leaders.

PCs for Kids

We have given out thousands of computers over the years, most to families, but we are looking to give back even more to our local community. We have just launched a program called PCs for Kids, where we partner with Elementary schools to provide an opportunity for every child in the school to have a home computer. Having a computer available for home use provides a significant advantage in accessibility to information and educational opportunities. According to an article by Robert W. Fairlie in the October 2005 issue of Economics of Education Review, teenagers who have access to home computers are 6 to 8 percent more likely to graduate from high school than teens that lack access to a home computer.

We have launched this program on Earth Day 2010 with a collection event at Jefferson Elementary School. Over the next few weeks we will be refurbishing the computers and distributing them to kids who go to the school!