When its LaGrange offices were scheduled for a computer upgrade, Electro-Motive found a way to help local schools and keep old hardware out of the waste stream at the same time. EMD partnered with the Chicago-based Computers For Schools (CFS) Foundation to participate in a unique computer recycling program.
Electro-Motive provided more than 700 office workstations to the CFS Foundation, which accepts donations of used computers from area businesses and individuals. The Foundation repairs, updates, and sells the hardware on a cost recovery basis to schools with limited resources for technology. To date, more than 80 schools in the Chicago area have received EMD's refurbished equipment.
The yearlong project was capped off with a personal computer recycling drive held at EMD. During the three-day event, Electro-Motive employees, retirees, local UAW offices, and area businesses donated used hardware to be given a second life in area classrooms. The following weekend, EMD co-sponsored a regional computer collection day for the general public hosted by the CFS Foundation. Held in the parking lot of Chicago's United Center, the event drew individuals and businesses from the greater Chicago metropolitan area. More than 80,000 pounds of computer hardware was donated, including hundreds of pieces collected the previous week at EMD. |