BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
Merizo Martyrs Memorial School serves the families of a rural fishing village at the southernmost tip of the U.S. Territory of Guam. In August, the elementary received 50 unboxed laptop computers via the Army National Guard and the island’s Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services site.
“Our teachers and students will benefit immensely from the connectivity these computers will provide,” said Principal Erica Cepeda.
Whether they are at the schoolhouse or in their home, the importance of ensuring students have access to information technology has never been more pronounced than it is right now. To that end, the Defense Department’s Computers For Learning technology donations continue to put today’s personal computers and peripheral devices in front of tomorrow’s leaders.
Once a military unit declares its information technology as excess, or perhaps obsolete due to updated security requirements, it can identify area schools in need and work with DLA to make equipment donations. The technology often has significant operational life remaining when units are required to upgrade, and donation ensures that taxpayers are reaping maximum benefit from the items.
According to a National Guard statement, the elementary in Merizo is the most remote school on the island and the Guard hopes to work with DLA to expand its technology donations to additional schools there. The Guam National Guard Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Esther Aguigui, attended a short ceremony at Merizo also attended by local DLA personnel and she commented on the value of the donation and CFL’s impact.
"When you make an investment in people, the investment returns two-fold," Aguigui said. "What better investment is [there] to make than in our children, and in our future."
Schools have made more than 300 CFL donation requests for about 3,000 items worth more than $2.2 million in fiscal 2020. More information on Computers For Learning can be found on the DLA Disposition Services website.