Training Volunteers to Embrace Their Inner 'Geeks’

Photograph by Rick Bennett

Here, a Free Geek staff member teaches two Cub Scouts how to take apart computers during a Scout field trip.

By Grace Bacon

Free Geek, a Portland, Ore., charity, sprang up 10 years ago in response to two seemingly unconnected technology problems: People could not afford to buy computers, and a growing number of computer parts were disposed of in ways that caused harm to the environment.

To solve both issues, Free Geek asked people to donate old computers and then enlisted volunteers to help its staff members repair and update them. It then made the machines—and training on how to operate