Can’t Get Enough of Those Geeks

Q. What do you get when you combine 150 broken down old computers, a handful of Geeks and Trident United Way’s Day of Caring?

A. A revolution at the Boys & Girls Club and fewer high school dropouts.

Members of the Geek Squad at the Best Buy store in Citadel Mall teamed up on September 11 and turned the useless machines into a working computer lab at the Boys & Girls Club’s Mary Street location. Children at the Club now have 14 working computer stations with state-of-the-art software and Internet access that they never had before.

Kids ordinarily at-risk of becoming part of the 40% of Lowcountry students who drop out are using the computers to do their homework and learn new skills. “Most of them don’t have computers at home,” notes Calvin Smith, the chief Geek.

And that’s not all.

Best Buy staff were so energized by their inaugural participation in Day of Caring that they are returning to the Boys & Girls Club three times-a-week. They’re maintaining the machines and teaching the kids computer skills that will be critical to their success in the 21st century workplace. On top of that, Best Buy will donate $1,000 for every 40 hours its employees volunteer.

That’s the kind of ongoing volunteer spirit envisioned by United Way when we created Day of Caring.

For Mike Campbell, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Trident Area, Day of Caring has created a valuable new relationship. “Our kids were better off the day after Best Buy first arrived and the benefits keep mounting.”