2011 Wish List

Happy New Year!

We are looking toward a new year with open hearts and minds.

Our goal? Growth!

...and we need your help!

Our wish list for this new year:

A van - we collect lots and lots of your equipment for reuse by new "in need" customers and are always looking for more. In order to transport this equipment, safely and efficiently, we are in need of a vehicle with lots of space. If you or someone you know owns a WORKING van that is no longer in use, we would love the donation.

Equipment - your continued, generous donations help Caring Compy help others! Whether we are able to refurbish and reuse your equipment or simply sell it to a reputable eco-friendly recycling company, Caring Compy and our community benefits. The proceeds of all sales are reinvested into Caring Compy and in turn used to help those in need. Please refer to our website for donation equipment requirements.

Warehouse/office space - the bigger we are, the more people we can help. At current, Caring Compy is operating out of our board members' homes. While a wonderful problem to have, we are busting-at-the-seams with donations from our generous community and have limited space to refurbish equipment and store inventory.

Volunteers - whether your background is sales, computer science, graphic design or anything in-between, you are needed! The biggest "background" in need is selflessness - a sincere and genuine desire to help the less fortunate.

In summary, Caring Compy is able to help so many. Our limitations are in our limited staff and resources.

If you can personally help with any of the above or know someone who can, please contact us - via e-mail preferably.

Please send your e-mail to: info at caringcompy.com and be sure to include in your subject either: van, equipment, warehouse/office space, or volunteers. Please detail your assistance offering within the body of the e-mail and we'll be certain to get back with you as soon as possible.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in making Caring Compy great.

Cheers!

Caring Compy

A Fresh New Compy for Rosy Cooper

Yesterday, Caring Compy delivered a Dell Optiplex GX280 running Ubuntu Desktop 10.04 to Rosy Cooper. We've helped Rosy Cooper in the past when we supplied her classroom at Hope For All Learning Center. Ms. Cooper is currently recovering from a recent surgical procedure and is out on disability. While she is out, she will be using her spare time and new computer to take online classes for a degree in business.

Moving forward, we'll be training her how to use her new computer and will be available to assist her with any issues she may have. We'd like to wish her a speedy recovery and the best of luck with her studies.

A New Operating System For a New Caring Compy Client

This week, Caring Compy fixed an ailing laptop for Cujael of Kissimmee, FL. Cujael, a proud member of the Taíno People, is unfortunately disabled and unable to get around as well as she once did.

To help her stay more connected to the outside world, we replaced her broken, virus infected installation of Windows Vista with a fresh copy of Ubuntu Linux 10.04. Now she will be henceforth free of viruses, malware, and the need for constant computer maintenance in the foreseeable future.

As with any of our clients, we are also training her how to use her new operating system to ensure she becomes proficient with it. We at Caring Compy look forward to a productive, educational relationship with Cujael.

Going Forward

We're about ready to end our hiatus. We've learned a lot of lessons in the past couple of years and are looking forward to getting back into action. That being said, there’s a couple of things that need to be addressed.

A problem that we consistently encounter is that we can sometimes have too much support but not the type that is currently needed. Nearly every person we meet responds with, "I have plenty of hardware to donate!" While it is appreciated, the result is that we have more hardware than we know what to do with. Until we get the funds to provide dedicated storage (or if someone would like to donate some space) the result is a lot of the donated hardware will be taken to the recycling center.

Going forward we will be much clearer about what help is required. Currently we do not need hardware donations. What we do need are skilled volunteers capable of building and repairing computers. We also need volunteers who are experienced with Linux. We are always, of course, willing to teach these skills to anyone who wants to learn them. For our upcoming project we will also need monetary donations to purchase the specialized hardware that people are unlikely to donate. We will be posting about our future project ideas very soon so stay tuned!

Speaking of money, we don't want to rely solely on donations to fund our ideas for projects. In the near future we would like to take an idea from FreeGeek Chicago and start selling computers that run Linux at an extremely cheap price to make use of the continuous hardware surplus. Hopefully this will help Caring Compy to become more self sustainable.

To summarize, we'll be back in action soon. We're looking for help, feedback, and ideas. Please reply via comment, find us on Twitter, Facebook, or email us at info at caringcompy.org. Thank you everyone for your support and your patience.

Hiatus

Caring Compy will be suspending normal operation for the foreseeable future. We are working out how to grow in the future without getting overloaded. This will take a fair amount of planning and planning takes time. Due to this, we are no longer taking on new clients or accepting new donations. We will, of course, be providing continued support to our current clients.

Thank you everyone for the support you've given us. Please keep an eye on the blog for when we resume normal operations.

Server for Turtle's Tattooz

Caring Compy has recently helped an artist who's shop has been hit hard by the recession. Turtle, a talented tattoo and apparel artist in Kissimmee, FL, was in dire need of a way to back up the digital art he's using for his day to day work. Caring Compy built and installed a Linux based file server for this purpose.

http://turtlestattooz.com/

Upgrade for Jim and Jewels

Recently, Caring Compy upgraded the computer at the home of clients Jim Shadgett and Jewels Reffner. They've been given a faster machine with the latest version of Xubuntu. Being a long term support release, they should have a smooth running machine for the next three years.

Another Compy to Find a Home For

Seth Cardoza of Orlando, FL has donated this lovely computer and parts for us to find a home for. Thank you, Seth, for your generosity.

Caring Compy is a Bonafide Non-Profit Organization

We're excited to announce that Caring Compy has recently received its 501(c)3 status! This means that Caring Compy is now a true non-profit. Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far. We look forward to helping many others in the future.

BarCamp Orlando 2010

Caring Compy will be presenting at BarCamp Orlando tomorrow (April 3rd). This will be our first public appearance and we are very excited! Admission is free, please join us! Visit BarCamp's website HERE.