Non-profit gives free laptops to families in need in Englewood

Computers are offering a window to the world in Englewood.

A national non-profit is handing out free laptops to families in need and you can help with their mission.

The line stretched across the block. Families came on foot and in cars to pick up two unrelated items - a turkey and a computer.

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"Right now I couldn't afford to give my grandson a laptop so this is going to really help him," said Englewood resident Leticia Turner. "In this world today, technology is everything and so this laptop is going to mean just so much to him."

The organization something good in Englewood hosted the event. The non-profit Comp-U-Dopt is providing the computers.

"Not only are we refurbishing this computer and giving it to a family that doesn't own it, but we are also able to keep that e-waste out of landfills," said Kaia Dutler, Executive Director of Comp-U-Dopt’s Chicago and Northern Illinois Regional Office.

Comp-U-Dopt takes old computers from corporate and individual donors and magically makes them just like new.

"If we're not able to recondition it, if it's a little older than what we're looking for, then we either use it for our education programs, where the students take the computers apart and learn all of the different components of it or we recycle it," Dutler said.

Families who receive a computer donation, also get two years of tech support. The non-profit also offers computer programming, skills and workforce development classes in the communities they serve.

"When our students build that confidence then they really are able to see themselves in jobs and in roles and careers in the technology sector," Dutler said.

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The donation can be life changing.

"It means the world to me," Turner said.

In Chicago, Comp-U-Dopt has delivered over 10,000 reconditioned computers.

To register your family using a mobile device, go to compudopt.org/chicago.