| A neighborhood in North Miami and an organization dedicated to preserving the Black history of South Florida have a bit more power at their disposal, thanks to the ease of use of Macintosh, the generosity of Macintosh owners, and the assistance of Gold Coast Mac.
 As part of its continuing “Mac a Difference” program to recycle computers no longer useful to their original owners, GCMac has just completed placing four donated computers with two community groups which had expressed a need for more up-to-date computers.
The first computers, two 6400 models and monitors donated by the South Florida Business Journal, were placed with the Black Archives, an organization which is collecting and cataloging pictures and documents related to the history of African Americans in South Florida.
It’s a monumental task, and while the organization has had great success in collecting material, many of its computers were donated and were sadly out of date. Some were so old, they were not capable of being networked or connecting effectively to the Internet.
After learning that the Archives, which is located in Miami’s Caleb Center, was already using Macintoshes, Gold Coast Mac offered to help them upgrade through the “Mac a Difference” program. Since 1999, GCMac has placed donated computers with community groups which are unable to afford computers, or do not have the funds to upgrade out-of-date computers.
The computers were tested and set up for donation by GCMac President Dave Game, and installed at the archives by Vice President’s Jan Barkan and Esver Camacho.
At the Black Archives, the network-capable, modem-equipped 6400 computers will allow for Internet access, and provide both research assistants and clerical staff with the ability to work more effectively. The network capability means that for the first time, the Archives can consider an office wide network for more effective exchange of information.
The second donation was placed with an organization which had already received assistance from Gold Coast Mac. North Miami’s Arch Creek Bible Chapel had received a donated 6400 after the church was vandalized just before Christmas, and an older PC was stolen.
Working with CBS 4’s Neighbors 4 Neighbors program, Gold Coast Mac replaced the computer, and that donation was profiled on WFOR-TV. The congregation was thrilled to receive the Macintosh and printer, but the donation and the resultant publicity had an unexpected benefit.
A few months after the break-in, Pastor Robert Moss contacted GCMac for help. It seems that all the attention and publicity given the church, through the break-in and the Gold Coast Mac donation, had created an additional need. So many people, it seems, had returned to worship at the tiny church, and to take part in community based church programs, that the church was in need of computers to help an after school program for neighborhood children.
Once again, Gold Coast Mac stepped in to help, donating lesser powered computers appropriate for use by children: a Performa 630 and a Power PC 6200, complete with monitors and printers, along with an assortment of child appropriate educational and research software. Both computers came equipped with Appleworks software, suitable for completing homework assignments. And the older computers both have floppy drives, which are useful for children to take homework projects back to school.
The computers were delivered and installed by GCMac President Dave Game and Vice President Jan Barkan just in time for Spring Break, which is expected to give the computers a lot of use.
Pastor Moss told Gold Coast Mac that many of the children who use church programs don’t have computers in the home, which can affect their school performance. He expects the addition of computers to the church program to be a great benefit.
Gold Coast Mac is continuing its efforts to place other computers, preparing to deliver and install two computers for the all-volunteer USO office located at Miami International Airport, and working with a number of other groups to meet their needs. The donations under negotiation or currently underway will soon exhaust the available supply of computers, but Gold Coast Mac expects other donors to come forward.
GCMac accepts donations of Macintosh computers only, and asks that they have Power PC processors at a minimum, and be in working order or repairable with minimum expense. Inkjet printers, scanners, and later model modems are also welcomed, as are working color monitors for either Macintosh or PC. While GCMac currently donates only to 501(c)3 qualified organizations, computers donated to Gold Coast Mac for placement are not tax deductible, though if requested, GCMac provide a letter detailing the donation and which 501(c)3 organization was the ultimate beneficiary.
Persons or companies interested in donating equipment can complete this online form to start the process. Organizations which could benefit from computers can also complete the online form, and will be contacted by a Gold Coast Mac representative.
“Mac a Difference” is an ongoing community service project of the Gold Coast Macintosh User Group, Inc., a state chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated to help people better understand their computers. The organization has nearly 300 members, and has been operating since 1985.
March 2001
|
