Educating our youth today requires technology in a way it never has before. That trend positively spiked when quarantine became a household term and, now, it is safe to say that the two are inextricably intertwined. How, then, do students without access to good technology learn? As it turns out, your IT Assets could be the answer.

Standing in the Gap

The I Know I Can program was founded in 1988 from the foresight and dedication of generous community members who recognized that no child should be denied a college education simply because they couldn’t afford it. One of the largest college-access programs in the country, I Know I Can (IKIC) has been changing the landscape of the future through boosting the underrepresented youth of today.

IKIC first reached out to Sage, before the pandemic hit, with a request for laptops and computers for their staff and the students enrolled in the program. Without technology, as stated above, IKIC students were in a hopeless situation.

Thankfully, the GoodTogether®️ program is designed to handle this kind of challenge, and so one of our most generous corporate sponsors was contacted. Huntington Bank, Sage's Corporate Partner of the Year in 2019, has been especially generous to schools through their School Back Pack Program, where they include a laptop in 1,000 backpacks for school-aged children each year. I Know I Can's focus on helping graduating seniors make the leap to college was a perfect extension of their k-12 program. Sage reached out to make this match up and Huntington was enthusiastic about supporting the positive impact of this incredible organization.

Collegebound

Before the pandemic, many IKIC students were reliant on the library computers for their online assignments. However, with the pandemic making libraries off limits, many of those students have been left in the cold—in some cases literally, with one student living out of her car because of COVID. When we delivered the 20 Huntington laptops: refurbished, cleaned, and warrantied; the response was understandably amazing. A lifeline had been thrown and the students are already accessing class, getting assignments done, and forging a future for themselves and their families.

Through Huntington Bank’s ongoing generosity, each of these students now truly are empowered.

This interconnected-ness of technology and education isn’t going away. And, with the far-reaching effects of COVID, there will be even more students who are unconnected or unable to access good-quality devices. If your ITAM is looking to boost its ESG, or philanthropic numbers, then consider donating your surplus IT to a great cause like I Know I Can.

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