Donating Laptops is
One of the Best Ways
to Help Deploying Troops

Since we posted our article on donating laptops for deploying troops, we've been contacted by a number of service members asking how they can get a laptop donated to enable them to stay in touch with loved ones.

The article talks about a great program by JDS Computer Donations, a company in Michigan that accepts donations of used laptops, rebuilds them, and then sends them to deployed military units. They work in conjunction with Any Soldier, Inc., through America Supports You, the DoD organization that connects groups supporting our service men and women.

The company is donating laptops to units, though, and not to individuals. We recommend that you have your unit's admin person contact JDS Computer Donations (via e-mail at JDS_Computers AT hotmail.com) to request computers for your unit in advance of your deployment, so that you have time to receive the donated laptops before you leave and they don't have to be shipped. Then, the soldiers in your unit can share a laptop or two, and everyone will be able to stay in touch with their loved ones more easily and less expensively than via phone.

One thing that will be important to remember if you're using a shared laptop to stay in touch is to use a webmail service, such as Google's gmail, so that your messages are stored online and not downloaded onto the computer you're using! We recommend that you go ahead and sign up for the service and get the account set up before you go.

Also, when you log in, be sure to uncheck the box that says "Remember me on this computer," and remember to log out of your account each time you leave the computer. If you don't, the next person who sits down to use that computer and opens gmail will open directly into your inbox. (Guess how we know that? Someone else logged into gmail on our laptop, and the next time we opened gmail, we were looking at their inbox.)

We are not aware of any groups that are donating laptops directly to individual service members (except for some returning wounded warriors who need special computers in order to communicate because of their injuries). If you are, please let us know so we can add that information.

If your unit is getting ready to deploy, and you'd like to see if you can get a couple of new laptops to take along for the troops to share, here are some ideas you might try. Thankfully, the prices of laptops have come down, and you can now buy a good one that is more than sufficient for e-mail needs for around $600.

Fundraising Ideas for Donated Laptops

Go to your local newspaper and ask for their help. Ask them to run an article about your unit being deployed, and the need for a laptop or two to enable the families to stay in touch inexpensively. Anyone interested in donating laptops or some money to be used to buy them could contact the newspaper to do so. That would give people more confidence that this is not a scam, where someone is just trying to get cash. The newspaper might even be willing to buy you a laptop or give you one of their old ones if you offer to write a weekly column for them to keep the folks back home informed about what the local unit is doing (observing opsec, of course).

Talk to your ministers and ask if they would be willing to make an appeal either from the pulpit or the church bulletin (or preferably both) to help buy a laptop or two for the unit to keep in touch with loved ones at home. If 60 people donated $10 each, that would buy a decent laptop. And be sure to give the story to the local paper to generate even more donations.

Hold car washes or other simple fund-raising events. Ask the local high school JROTC group (if there is one) to help. Or maybe the school's cheerleaders or athletic teams.

How many people are being deployed? Divide $600 by that number, and ask if each of them would be willing to chip in their share so you can buy a laptop for the unit to take along specifically to keep in touch with their families. If it's a big unit, and you think you could raise enough to buy a better laptop, divide $1000 by that number and see if you can raise that much, or better yet, raise $1200 and buy two $600 laptops.

Send e-mail to all your friends and family. Tell them that you're proud to be serving your country, but at the same time, you're concerned about your family at home. Ask if they could spare $10 or $20 to pool together so you could get a laptop to take with you so you can stay in touch. You might be surprised how much money you get.

Those are just a few ideas, but they might work. Good luck! Please let us know how much money you are able to raise, and how many laptops you were able to buy for your unit! We'd be delighted to tell your success story.

Even if you're not successful in raising enough money to buy laptops, you probably shouldn't worry too much. There will probably be somebody with a personal laptop who would let you use it to exchange e-mail with home. And depending on where you're stationed, the post may have facilities, such as a library, that would include a public computer for e-mail use. It's not as convenient, but it's better than nothing.

While you're fretting about not being able to afford your own personal laptop, just remember how fortunate you are that internet access is available in combat zones!

Remember those of us who went through deployments in the days before internet access. We actually had to physically write letters, take them to the mailbox or post office, and wait. And wait, and wait. And then we'd get a dozen letters all at once. Then it would be a couple of weeks before we got anything else, because ships could only send out mail when they pulled into port. Likewise, our loved ones could only receive their mail when the ship pulled into port, so they went through the same wait and wait cycle. It could take a month to send a question and get an answer!

But those letters were some of our most prized possessions. Sometimes, e-mail isn't all it's cracked up to be.