Frederick Community College has been partnering with United Way to help bring Chromebooks to those who may not be able to afford a laptop sustainably themselves.
According to FCC’s Scholarship Program Manager, 62-year old Michael Thornton, The United Way of Frederick County and FCC decided to hold a Chromebook event at FCC in 2023, as it was found to be a better way for these Chromebooks to reach the people who are supposed to be using them, students. An event was held for the second time in 2024.
While the FCC exclusive event has ended, The United Way also has public events to get people the devices they need to be successful that are not limited to exclusively FCC students. Some upcoming places and times to look out for are, May 15 at the Brunswick Branch Library, May 18 Bernard W. Brown Community Center, and May 22nd at the Fort Ritchie Community Center.
“Through a grant that we received through the state of Maryland, United Way of Frederick was designated by the Frederick County Council to give out Chromebooks throughout the County.” said 39-year old Joe Kunkle, manager of Community Impact and Grants from United Way, To qualify for one of these drives someone must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as the FAFSA, and on their FAFSA one must qualify for some level of Federal Pell or Title grant, according to Kunkel who suggests that those who want more information on this and other events find their way to the United Way’s website, UWFrederick.org/Chromebook.
According to Kunkel, there are around 5,000 Chromebooks to go around and are free to qualifying students, as typically the United way of Frederick County can’t give out enough Chromebooks to outweigh the amount that they are given. Only one Chromebook can go to each address or household.
“Being part of this nonprofit community we wanted to make sure that we are helping to bridge what we call the ‘digital divide,’” Kunkle said “So by providing an access point for folks by providing a Chromebook, we are able to help people, and help bridge the digital divide and to have a new machine.”
Joe Kunkel (In the red shirt) assisting students at the Chromebook drive organized by United way and FCC. April 16th, 2024.
The People from United Way assisted students on every step along the way to get them started on their journey with their brand-new Chromebooks. United Way has a website where they run these public Chromebook drives, and the dates alongside them, but they do one at FCC around the same time in April each year.
As long as United way continues to get funding for these Chromebooks, people who qualify will be able to get the technological aid they need to succeed in the modern higher-education world.
