December was a short month for us because we took a well-deserved break over the holidays! Everyone worked very hard to ensure all our orders were shipped out before we went on break.
 
We especially wanted to finish as many computers as possible for the families who applied through the TELUS Internet for Good Initiative knowing those computers  were going to be a Christmas present! To date, we’ve provided 529 computers and laptop to individuals and families. We also sent out a survey to participants to learn some demographic data and how to improve future programs. The information learned helps us to demonstrate the impact these programs have amongst families in BC. 

"My son is 10 and thanks to the computer, he is teaching himself 2d and 3d animation as well as some programming"

"The computer gave me freedom for education, the ability to explore new things and a sense of self worth"

To celebrate our holiday break, we took all the employees to Me-n-Ed’s Pizza Parlor for some team bonding over delicious food. It was a good opportunity for everyone to chat and reminisce about how busy we’ve been throughout the year. 

​Our executive director, Mary-Em, went to Victoria to give some presentations about our organizations and donation opportunities to various Federal Government procurement officers. She also attended the Decoda Literacy Solutions conference and let them know about how their member organizations can utilize our refurbished computers in the community. We’re hoping to expand on our clients by reaching out to more organizations outside of schools like libraries to let them know more about us. If you know a non-profit organization that needs some new equipment, please share our good work with them – we’re here to help!
 
Aaron, one of our CFS interns, operated a Try-a-Trade booth at an event hosted by Skills Canada as part of National Skilled Trade & Technology Week. It was a great opportunity to give youth a chance to get some hands-on work with technology. The kids really liked  pulling the computers apart and reassembling them. It was pretty neat to watch their faces react to seeing what the inside of an i-Mac looks like, it’s not something many people have seen!

The deadline for families to participate in TELUS’ Internet for Good Initiative came on Nov 30. To date we have shipped 524 computers and laptop to individuals and families. We’re looking to wrap up the remaining orders in the next few weeks and get them out before the holidays! We hope the computers make a family’s holiday great.
 
This month we’ve shipped 338 refurbished computers and laptops to schools and non-profits. Some of our top donors for this month were Canadian Revenue Agency, General Electric Renewable Energy, and TELUS. Their donations have gone to helping some wonderful organizations this month such as MOSIAC, Umbrella Health Coop Clinic, and ISS of BC.
 
Your Donations Matter
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Our Executive Director, Mary-Em, attended the National Computers for Schools meeting held in Yellowknife NWT. While there, we got a teaser about the new CFS+ identifier and logo which will roll out soon. We’re very excited for these changes because they better demonstrate the different ways we help people through refurbished tech. We refurbish more than computers, and support organizations than just schools. Our national program name needs to reflect this change from our inception in 1993. 

​The TELUS for their Internet for Good Initiative kept us quite busy during the summer and the phone was ringing constantly. To date we have distributed 277 computers and laptop to family homes. It’s been lovely to hear from people participating in the initiative, telling us how much they’ll benefit from their new tech and how it will affect their families, especially as many have kids in school.
 
We also shipped 508 refurbished computers and laptops to schools and non-profits. September means back to school, and we gave 353 computers to schools and students. Some of our top donors for this month were Telus, Raymond James LTD, UBC, and Aldergrove Credit Union. Their donations went towards non-profits like MOSAIC, Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria, and Children's Arts Umbrella.

July was a month with beautiful weather and packed with orders coming in.
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To start off the month, we held our annual BBQ and Annual General Meeting. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t nice that one day, but the BBQ was a great opportunity for our incoming and outgoing technicians to get better familiarized with each other and take a much-appreciated break from work.

Our board had their Annual General Meeting, where they had opportunity to review Financial Statements, and the 2018/19 Executive Year End Report.  We had a good year!

Our renewed partnership with TELUS for their Internet for Good Initiative has kept us very busy. It’s been lovely to hear from people participating in the initiative, telling us how much benefit they’ll be gaining from their refurbished computer or laptop and how it will affect their families.  Many families need a computer to prepare to head back to school in September so the timing has been perfect.
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This month, we shipped 508 refurbished computers and laptops to schools and non-profits. Giving 353 computers to schools, providing new learning opportunities to explore coding and doing research projects. We also shipped 108 computers and laptops to some non-profits like Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria, Canucks Autism Network Society, and Pathfinder Youth Centre Society

June was a very busy month for us as we are transitioning and preparing for a big project!

We’re excited to report delivery on all the computers under the Connecting Families Initiative. Since November 2018, 2200 computers have been shipped including 375 in June. As one activity winds down (for now, the third release is expected in the fall!) we can get to work on a new project.

The exciting new project is our renewed partnership with TELUS for their Internet for Good Initiative. They are providing eligible participants with heavily discounted internet from TELUS and refurbished computers provided by BC Tech. With the new initiative getting underway, we are busy ramping up our production to meet the new influx of demands that will be coming through the program.
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This month, we shipped 702 refurbished computers and laptops to schools and non-profits. Giving 524 computers to schools, providing many classrooms a chance to better enrich their student’s learning experiences. We also shipped 91 computers and laptops to some non-profits like AWARE Whistler, Canadian Mental Health Association, and the BC Parks Foundation. The chart below shows how busy we were during the first quarter of the fiscal year!

We are also cycling through and introducing new technicians as part of our CFS Internship program. It’s always sad to see our old technicians go but we wish them the best and hope their time here has provided them with valuable experience and skills.

This month we shipped 1040 refurbished computers and laptops to schools and non-profits. Giving 682 computers to schools, providing many classrooms a chance to better enrich their student’s learning experiences. We also delivered 213 computers and laptops to local non-profits like Dixon Transition Society, MOSAIC, and ISS of BC. We’re glad to be able to help non-profits because they do amazing work to help our local communities. Our support to the Connecting Families initiative continues as we’ve received some really good feedback on the impacts its making in these homes.

At the end of May, we held a donor recognition event at Telus Garden. This event was important for us because we were able to personally thank and present awards to some of our largest donors.

The awards presented were:

Telus – 25 Year Community Partner
Telus has been donating and supporting since 1993. As a founding partner, they have donated equipment valued at $3.2 million.

BC Hydro – 25 Year Community Partner
BC Hydro has donated $3.5 million worth of computers over the years.

Capilano University – Education in Action Award
Capilano University has been donating since 2008 and have provided $500,000 in donated equipment. These donations are especially valuable because they donate iMacs which are rarely given.

Coast Capital Savings – Youth Leadership Award
Since 2003, Coast Capital Savings has donated $500,000 worth of computer equipment. Last year they provided our single largest corporate donation of 700 computers in October!

Metro Vancouver – Environmental Leadership Award
Metro Vancouver has donated since 2008 and over $500,000 worth of computers.

PCL Construction – Business Leadership Award
PCL Construction has been donating since 2015 and provided $40,000 worth of equipment.

Nothing makes us happier than receiving Thank you letters and we received a bonanza in February! We were blessed to receive over 30 letters and cards from students attending Vancouver Island University. These students are youth who are aging out of government care and who didn’t have a computer of their own to complete homework or research. One card read “Thank you for your generosity. It’s initiatives like this that help former youth in care feel loved and proud”
 
We say it because it’s true: your donations matter.
 
Feb Highlights include:

• 800 computers/laptops donated in from many federal departments
• 400 computers distributed out to the Surrey Welcome Centre (SD #36), Khalsa School and the BC Royal Canadian Legion.
• New Donor included Rimex Supply (thank you!)
• The second mail out for Connective Families was released

 
Learn how you can donate at here or call 604-250-9936 for more information. 

Happy New Year and as I write… Happy Lunar New Year! – It’s hard to believe January is over and it’s time to share all the events and activities that kept us busy over the month.
 
Thankfully, tech donations continued to come in. We received over 360 computers from a variety of donors including 5 federal departments, Metro Vancouver, Langara College, Capilano University, TeeKay Shipping, the New West Police Department, and 14 individual donors. Thanks to everyone who continues to support our work through your donations.
 
They were needed. We shipped 600 computers; we helped MOSAIC with 30 computers to support new immigrant families, Xaxli’p First Nation received 20 laptops to support learners in their community computer lab,  7 public schools from Surrey to Vavenby, some being used in the classroom, or for school tech clubs, others are being provided to families. 300 computers were shipped through the Connecting Families initiative.
 
We learned one teacher was seeking a “dependable classroom laptop that can run Smartboard software (and more). The classroom computer bit the dust over the Christmas Break and they found out the hard way that there is no budget for such expenditures”
 
Just in case you were wondering… YES! #DonationsMatter
 
30 laptops were also sent to support students for the Cyber Defense Challenge  where participants don’t just strut their hacking stuff… they also delved deep into documentation, team building, & presentation skills. Not for slackers, that’s for sure. It was a full day for students at the Pan Pacific (apparently it was sunny outside!) and a great day for us to reach out to attendees at the BC Aware Conference and let them know they have a great option for their old computers with us.