Rotary Club of Kapa‘a President Jakki Nelson said the task of the club was to find homes for 15 refurbished laptop computers.
Jessica Gormley of Hawai‘i Literacy accepted several for the program’s clients, and Mia Tayal of Hale ‘Opio claimed more for her program’s clients Wednesday during the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a’s hybrid meeting that took place at Mariachi’s Mexican restaurant in Kapa‘a.
“Dory Farias of Hale Ho‘omalu of Child &Family Service said they have clients that can use computers,” Nelson said. “We’ve also reached out to social-service workers who work with clients that definitely need computers.”
The computers were shipped to Kaua‘i as a result of a Scouts of America Eagle Project performed in California by Eagle Scout candidate Nicholas Adams, whose grandparents are Kaua‘i residents and connected with the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a.
“Nicholas spends a lot of time on Kaua‘i because of his grandparents,” Nelson said. “But with the COVID-19 pandemic, he hasn’t been able to come. That didn’t stop him from thinking about his grandparents or the people here that are dealing with issues, or the pandemic. He really wanted to do something for Kaua‘i because of his grandparents.”
Adams was able to bring the refurbished machines during a trip to Kaua‘i to celebrate his grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary.
“We asked him to come, and even offered to pay for his guests,” Nelson said. “But he said there would be too many people, and said he could do things via Zoom.”
Realizing the increasing demand for reliable computers because of the pandemic creating more distance communicating and working remotely, people have become more reliant on computers and telecommunications.
This also creates a supply of machines to work with as companies upgrade and update electronic instruments for more reliability and ability to handle the workloads from remote-working associates and employees.
“These reasons are why some of the computer recipients need computers,” Nelson said. “Hawai‘i Literacy, Hale ‘Opio and Child &Family Service and its network of social workers had people waiting. But there are others that we don’t know about, and we know the social workers know who they are, and the need.”
The Rotary Club of Kapa‘a was asked to find homes for the refurbished computers because of its history of handing out student scholarships and helping with other youth-based organizations like the Boys &Girls Club Kapa‘a Clubhouse and others.
The Rotary Club of Kapa‘a, creator of the Taste of Hawai‘i scholarship fundraiser, meets on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. at Mariachi’s.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
