Computers Offered to Non-Profits
by Randy Pierce
Non-profit and charitable organizations needing computers may avail themselves of an offer from the office of Madison County Circuit Clerk Tom McRae as a result of a recent decision concerning what to do with the equipment that will be no longer used there.
There are about 100 computers, still in good working order, that McRae said are no longer useful to his department from a programming standpoint so they are being offered on a first-come, first-served basis to the groups in the area such as libraries, churches and other organizations that may need them.
McRae believes that with school starting this time of year, he wanted to make sure the computers were put to good use, especially by children who can benefit from them.
This does not mean, however, that they are intended solely for school-age students as organizations with other goals and objectives are certainly welcome to any computers that might be available from this source. McRae explained these devices are capable of running Windows 10 or 11.
Trena Camerer, a system engineer in McRae’s office, said the lifespan to update Windows 10 is due to expire in October of next year but these computers will still be able to access the Internet and use other various programs with certain vulnerabilities existing since the software cannot be updated.
The majority of what is being made available. Camerer noted, are the computer units themselves but there are a limited number of monitors and other accessories with some of them. One idea she had was that they could be used for technological instructional purposes by being taken apart, examined, rebuilt or used for parts supply.
In early July, McRae brought this idea forward to the county board judiciary committee with one of the concerns being expressed in that setting dealing with the information that might be stored on the computers.
All of hard drives will be cleaned, scrubbed and tended to so that there is no sensitive data or information accessible by anyone who uses them. County board member Frank Dickerson of Worden had expressed an interest in providing four or five of these computers to a local library.
Mike Babcock, chairman of the judiciary committee, was very supportive of this action, stating, “This is a great opportunity. Not every non-profit has the funding to purchase extra computers that the public can use.”
When discussing this matter at the judiciary committee meeting, McRae estimated there were 75 computers available but by the time an announcement was made concerning this matter recently, another 25 had been added to that total.
