Mordechai Luchins 
It is my pleasure to announce that The Laptop Project is now a 501(c)3 organization.
This is a huge step, as it means we can now give tax receipts for donations of machines and/or money.
The registration was made possible by grant in memory of Sarala Ginzberg z’l, arranged by Charles Leiner and family. It was also made possible by the hard work of TLP board member Ed Abramovitz.
The Laptop Project (with the help of Jerry Salit) donated six Chromebooks to my seventh grade inclusion (general education students mixed with special education students) classroom at the end of 2015. Having the Chromebooks in my classroom has truly made a difference and I have seen such growth in my students since we got them, and I wanted to thank everyone involved for their support! The benefits these Chromebooks bring my students are immeasurable. Because of them, my students are able to stay organized and use accessibility features to increase their confidence in their work.
In my classes, we use a program called Google Classroom. All of their writing assignments are through this program, and they can be accessed from any computer when they log into their account. This prevents them from needing to waste time looking for lost papers, or going back to their locker to find a forgotten folder or notebook. With these computers, they are able to access these assignments from class and get a head start on their homework, and complete in-class assignments.
In addition to this, my students really benefit from being able to type their assignments as opposed to hand-writing them. Due to various reasons including fine-motor disabilities or just plain rushing, many of my students are unable to even read their own handwriting after writing something! Having the option to type is a huge help.
They also take full advantage of accessibility features such as spellcheck and text-to-speech. When writing, my students are often hesitant to use new or interesting vocabulary because they are not confident in their spelling abilities, and don’t want to be embarrassed by a spelling mistake. With spellcheck, this roadblock is eliminated! They more readily use advanced vocabulary which greatly improves their writing.
Finally, the text-to-speech feature allows them to read and comprehend different online texts, even outside of the audiobooks. Text-to-speech is a feature that allows the computer to read text out loud to the user. This feature is available through Google, and has especially helped my students during our non-fiction reading unit. They can have the computer read articles out loud to them that they have found online, which helps them comprehend the material. I believe my students think the text-to-speech feature is the most exciting part of the Chromebooks. They love having the computer read text out loud to them, and even sometimes type things just to have the computer read it. It really gets them excited about the technology and makes them more comfortable reading higher-level texts.
The students that have warmed the most to the Chromebooks are the ones with handwriting difficulties. They do almost everything on the Chromebooks, and basically nothing handwritten anymore. This allows them to put their full effort into their work, and focus much more on the quality of their writing! They love having the option to type their work. The Chromebooks have really increased their confidence and level of engagement.
Again, thank you so much for your kindness and generosity when donating to my classroom. My students and I are so appreciative of your support!
With gratitude,
Jenna Klein
I want to address a question I’ve been getting pretty frequently.
“Is The Laptop Project a Jewish charity?”
That really depends how you define it. Are all of our board members Jewish? Yes (our Brand Manager isn’t, though). Are the majority of our volunteers (people who assist in finding machines, serve as drop off points)? It happens that they are. Will our 501(c) filing be in the memory of Sarala Ginzberg , a young Jewish woman who passed away last year? Yup. Is one of the driving philosophies the Jewish philosophical concept of “Tikun Olam” (Perfecting the world)? Absolutely.
But are we a charity that just serves the Jewish community? Not even a little. Our goal is to take unused equipment and put it in the hands of those who need them. There is no test for what religion someone is or if they are even religious at all. We have given and will continue to give to all people.
Thank you.
So far this year we have…
…given out 32 machines…
…have 4 ready for pickup this weekend…
…have 7 donated machines in transit to us…
…have several other pledges I am waiting to hear from…
…have 14 more individuals waiting for laptops…
…have a request for 10 machines from an assisted living facility….
…and have a request for 20 machines from a day school.
I joked that my goal for this year was to top 2015’s 128 machines with 365. I am starting to think this is doable.
Please remember, anything you can do to help us is welcome. Laptop chargers, old tablets, old smartphones, simple hard drives…these are all welcome devices. We will also take all-in-one desktops. Remember: they don’t have to be working. Anything from 2007 and more recent is welcome. We *do not* take printers, faxes, or monitors at this time.
We have representatives in the Washington Heights, Monsey, Brooklyn, Midtown East, Queens, and Bronx regions of the NY Metro area. We also have people who can take or distribute donations in Highland Park/Edison, Passiac, and the Teaneck region of NJ, plus a drop off person in Albany, NY. We also have two people willing to take laptops from Atlanta. And of course, we accept packages in the mail.
We are a NJ non-profit but cannot give tax letters. We are working on the IRS thing and hope to be able to soon. Please spread the word.
We can be reached by email or via our Facebook page
Over the past year many have asked us if The Laptop Project can give tax letters. While we are a registered New Jersey Non-Profit, we are not actually a 501(c)(3) with the IRS. However, that is changing. A cash donation has been made by Charles Leiner in memory of his niece, Sarala Ginzberg z’l. Ms. Ginsberg was taken from this world far too young. As someone who always helped those around her, Charles thought it only appropriate to enable TLP to help others.
A longtime friend of TLP, Charles, has been a great help. Once the registration is complete and accepted, we will be altering the website and Facebook page to note “The Laptop Project is a tax-deductible, 501(c)3 organization. This was made possible by a grant in memory of Sarala Ginzberg z’l”. That’s all that was asked of us, and it’s our honor to do.
In 2015, The Laptop Project gave out 128 devices. That’s laptops, tablets, and smart phones.
This weekend, the first in 2016, we will already be giving out four machines (three laptops, one phone) and are getting new donated machines to tweak.
Let’s try to help even more people this year.
Got a dead laptop? We know what to do with it! My online buddy and fellow GeekDad, Mordechai Luchins, has a little charity endeavor called The Laptop Project that I want to tell you about. Mordechai, or Morts, as most people call him, likes to fix laptops; he finds it entertaining. Keeping track of countless tiny screws, gently wiggling components in and out of their brackets, are things that he finds fun and relaxing. Once he found this out, he decided to put it to good use, so now he collects broken laptops, repairs them and gives them away to people who need them.