A Random Act of Kindness Leads to New Program for Low Income Teens

Many low-income students have problems with their laptops, ranging from connectivity issues, to the software being outdated or for most the cost is just too high to be able to afford one.  Last year, A Bridge for Kids was approached by Glenda Rothberg, a longtime supporter and sponsor, who wanted to make sure technology was not an issue for our students. After examining the many ways she could help she ultimately decided to make a donation (that was matched by the organization) allowing our newly sponsored teens to buy a laptop of their choosing!   

Since last May, A Bridge for Kids has been fortunate to receive additional funding to continue Glenda’s program and to date has purchased nearly $30,000 in laptops for our students. Recently we asked these beneficiaries how this most generous act of kindness has impacted them.   Below are their responses.

Jaylen Stevenson (’22) from Herbert Hoover High School would borrow a laptop from his school, which prevented him from being the best student he could be. When talking about his laptop issues, Jaylen said, “It was slow. Every time I opened the Chrome tab, the Zoom meetings would start lagging. I was able to complete my assignments, but I missed out on some information during Zoom meetings because it would lag.”

Now that Jaylen has his own laptop, he is motivated to do better in school because he can focus during class without interruption. 

Angie Ly (’23) from Kearny High School also had laptop issues, which made her existing laptop obsolete. She could not load anything on her laptop and frequently experienced connectivity issues during Zoom meetings. Whenever she tried opening a tab during an online meeting, it would take a long time for the page to open. 

This was especially a problem in Angie's coding class where her teacher required students to work in groups. Angie could not load her code and was frequently left behind. As a solution, Angie reviewed the class recordings to catch up on important information she may have missed during class.  While this helped her keep up it wasted hours each week she could have used to complete other tasks.

Angie expressed that, “When I got my laptop everything changed! I didn’t have to worry about being the last person to finish an assignment or about my tabs not loading.”  Not many people think of a laptop as a “stress reliever” but Angie did.

Another student, Joel Castro (‘22) from Herbert Hoover High School who also received a new laptop from Glenda’s new program, said, “It’s only been five days since I received my laptop, but I can already notice massive improvements in efficiency in my schoolwork.” 

Before receiving the new laptop, Joel procrastinated doing his work because he felt that doing schoolwork online was sluggish. With the new laptop, he feels more motivated to work because he doesn’t have to deal with slow internet response time on a school computer. 

In Joel’s home, family members are frequently in the same room and he would turn off the laptop camera because it would be distracting to others. With the new laptop, Joel can blur his surroundings, so family members aren’t visible. 

Joel said, “We are moving into this new era where everything is online and I’m sure teachers will be incorporating this into their lesson plans next year. It's a relief to know that I have a reliable way to stay connected.” 

If you or someone you know is interested in supporting this new program, please use this link to make a donation.  Just enter ”laptop” in the notes section and we will make sure your contribution is used to purchase new laptops for our teens.