An organization that provides technical training to young people and low-cost electronic devices to schools and other organizations is setting up shop in Thompson.
Computers for Schools Manitoba is opening up a northern branch in the city soon with help from CEDF and the Northern Manitoba Sector Council (NMSC). It will be on Hayes Road, though an exact opening date isn’t known yet.
“We’ve operated for just over 25 years in Winnipeg ,” said executive director Justin Menard while in Thompson Aug. 12. “We’ve talked basically the entire time about being in Northern Manitoba and it’s time we do it."
The aims of Computer for Schools Manitoba are threefold – training, free and low-cost equipment distribution, and environmental responsibility
“We recycle everything that is end of life or can’t be reused properly within in Canada,” Menard said.
And despite the name, the organization actually provides electronic equipment to a variety of recipients, including non-profits, libraries, churches, First Nations groups, post-secondary students, homeschool families, low-income people and seniors.
Training aims to help interested young people gain a foothold in the computer electronics field.
“Youth between the ages of 15 and 30 are brought and employed for approximately 12 months to gain some experience in the IT sector to bridge the gap between education and employment,” Menard says.
Kurtis McLeod, the Thompson born and raised manager of the new northern training and refurbishment site, says the goal is to prepare people to enter careers as computer technicians and beyond.
“The most important part is they’ve got hands-on experience and can go and move into the sector at their own pace,” he said.
Once the site is up and running, they will accept donations of old electronics.
“We don’t take anything that has any hazardous materials in it so please don’t bring us any fridges or air conditioners but pretty much any other kind of electronic device we will happily accept, whether it be good, bad or ugly,” Menard said. “We will refurbish it if we can. If we can’t, we make sure it’s properly recycled.”
Computers for Schools Manitoba will be more convenient that the current e-waste site at the Thompson landfill.
“We’re half the run to the dump,” said McLeod. “They can just drop it off with us and we do what we have to do from there.”
CEDF and NMSC were instrumental in making this idea a reality, according to Menard.
“Without their support we would not be opening our doors in Northern Manitoba. They’ve been incredible partners to work with and I’m very excited to continue to work with them.”
