ATLANTA — Plenty of people toss technology away or trade it in when they upgrade, whether it’s a laptop, a phone or even a desktop computer.
A new metro Atlanta organization is giving your retired technology new life and giving it away, for free, to non-profits in need.
Channel 2’s Sophia Choi was at the Atlanta Tech Bank, to show how the whole operation works.
Atlanta Tech Bank founder Jimmy Lowe showed Choi around the building on Collier Road in northwest Atlanta, where the organization refurbishes old computers and gets them ready for new life, and new users.
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“This is the first place we see it, this is intake,” Lowe showed Choi.
Lowe, a former apple business developer, now works with non-profits like Project Heal, which helps the homeless by offering them places to stay.
“Schools, businesses, neighbors, they trust us with their technology,” Lowe said. “We take data security as a first order priority. Every device gets wiped here.”
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Dr. Mark Hozberg, a co-founder of Project Heal, told Channel 2 Action News how ATB helped his organization on several occasions.
“Atlanta Tech Bank supplied all 20 units at Project Heal waterworks village, then 30 units at Cooper Street, with a total of 60 individual PCs, one for each of the residents,” Holzberg said.
Part of how the tech bank works is through donations.
Local businesses and individuals can donate their old computers for reuse and refurbishment instead of throwing them away.
“We make it really really easy for businesses,” Lowe said. “So you just let us know some basic info about the technology and then we would then pick it up, bring it back here and then get it ready for that second life.”
Volunteers with the bank get rid of any old data, make sure the machines work, then clean them.
After that, the hardware and software gets wiped clean, then gets prepared for organizations to take them for use.
The Atlanta Tech Bank relies on a combination of computers and monetary donations to run the place, plus volunteers to make it all happen.
The program started in January, and Lowe said it has already helped 16 non-profits with batches of refurbished computers ready to help four more.
For those interested in donating, the Atlanta Tech Bank takes laptops, tablets and desktop computers.
For more information, head online here.
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