Non-Profit Provides Cheap Computers for Kids

If you want to buy a laptop, it typically will cost you a pretty penny. While expensive for anyone, students from low-income families often experience an even harder time affording one. That's where the non-profit Per Scholas comes in.

According to a New York Daily News story, the Bronx-based non-profit offers up refurbished laptops to local students for a fraction of what the computers typically cost. Per Scholas sells the laptops for about 275 bucks a pop — not bad considering the computers come equipped with Pentium 4 processors, full Internet capabilities and free educational software. Purchasing a laptop from the non-profit also earns students a limited warranty and free lifetime access to a toll-free, bilingual help desk should they have any issues with the computers.

Laptops at this year's sale were donated from organizations like Con Edison and the Internal Revenue Service. Once they get the laptops, Per Scholas updates the computers with new software and adds new hardware, if necessary. The non-profit, which works to hook up residents of low-income communities with computers and provide technology-based job training, hopes the discounted laptop sale will help improve local students' academic success rate.

"At Per Scholas, we recognize that connecting students to technology is crucial in promoting success within the educational arena and beyond," Per Scholas' president and CEO, Plinio Ayala, told the New York Daily News. "It is our mission to provide the community with an affordable computer solution to meet the needs of students."

Photo courtesy of Husky via Wikimedia Commons.