Coronavirus: Napanee father of four refurbishes old laptops to donate to students

As schools remain closed across the province during the COVID-19 pandemic, students now have to adjust to learning at home.

But that may be tricky for some, since not every family has a laptop.

Now, a father of four from Napanee, Ont., is going out of his way to provide laptops for students that need one.

Dave Alford recently received a call from his children’s teacher, telling him that many students don’t have access to a computer.

That’s when Alford decided to use his computer skills to help out.

“It’s very essential because everything that the teachers are handing out through Google Classroom is online, they really need to have that ability to get online to access the information they need,” Alford said.

Having gone to school for electronic engineering, Alford started refurbishing old computers and donating them to students who need them for school. He has been able to donate eight laptops so far.

“I believe everybody should have the opportunity to learn, and in the situation we are in right now, it’s hard for some people.”

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Alford has managed to quickly refurbish some of his own computers to give away, spending his own money to buy missing parts, if needed.

Originally, Alford took to Facebook to ask if anyone needed a laptop and received several replies from parents.

Evelyn Lovett is one parent whose daughter needed a computer for school work.

“She is having a lot of fun on it and she has been able to do all her learning that the teacher sent us links for. It’s benefiting her really well,” Lovett said.

Lovett added she was able to pick up the laptop the day after asking for one.

“It’s amazing that he’s putting this out there, helping the community out to get people through these hard times.”

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In order to help as many students as possible, Alford is asking anyone with a laptop or computer parts that they no longer use, to email him at Comp4Kids9@gmail.com or to contact him through Facebook.