Connected Tennessee’s Computers 4 Kids program will donate 10 new printers to the Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy on behalf of the Young Women's Leadership Academy Foundation on Tuesday. The printers will be awarded to the academy as a part of a donation made by Lexmark International to the Computers 4 Kids program. Kentucky-based Lexmark has provided a total of 250 printers to the C4K program.
The C4K program deploys computers, academic support programs, and workforce training to two at-risk, populations: those in the state's foster care system who are "aging out" as they turn 18, and youth who are active in the state’s 76 Boys & Girls Clubs.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-funded program will impact the lives of nearly 60,000 youth across the state throughout the life of the grant – providing a helping hand to youth that are working hard to attain a better life for themselves, officials said. Occasionally, the C4K program will also donate printers to local and state organizations with a focus on empowering and educating youth in the state, such as the Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy and the Young Women’s Leadership Academy Foundation.
Almost half of the low-income families in Tennessee cite a lack of a computer at home as the reason they are not accessing the Internet. Computers 4 Kids is intended to help bridge the gap between those who can afford computers and those who cannot, while allowing thousands of disadvantaged Tennessee children the opportunity to participate in the educational, economic, and civic opportunities made available by having a computer in the home.