On July 23, Toshiba announced it will donate the cable modems, while Cox Communications said it will offer the discounted Internet service. The package of services and hardware will be distributed by Computers for Families, a nonprofit organization that acquires new and used computer equipment from businesses and distributes it to families in need.
"The county government in their long-range plan had a section that related to services to low-income families," said David Edelman, director of public affairs of Cox Communication's central coast region. "In our discussion about our cable franchise, we asked about their plan and out of that discussion came our idea to offer the digital divide credit program."
Computers for Families will also provide computer training for teachers and parents directly impacted by the donation, said John Padfield, project administrator of the organization.
Padfield said families are chosen through classroom teachers. The teachers apply to the program and find out which of their students don't have PCs at home.
"In this day and age, if the family doesn't have one, it's definitely an economics problem," he said. "It's an under served family. We provide a computer to that family through the students, so the teacher has everybody in his or her classroom connected with a computer at home able to use the internet and they can do distance learning, e-mailing, group collaborations."
The program, which is in its sixth year of existence, has given more than 2,600 computers to underserved families in Santa Barbara, Padfield said, adding that at the end of the last school year, 89 teachers from 23 schools were actively participating.
"We're reaching pretty good saturation," he said. "The goal of the Partners in Education board, their vision seven years ago, was to get 4,000 computers out, so we will have obtained that goal by the end of this new school year."
Computers for Families has worked with Cox Communications for quite some time, Padfield said.
"As part of the re-franchising contract with the city of Santa Barbara, Cox Communications wanted to see what more they could do for the educational community in town," he said.
Cox Communications will charge users $125 dollars per year for the connection, about $10 per month.
"We are offering a 75 percent discount off our retail rate," Edelman said. "More importantly, the value of our contribution totals $1.5 million in savings for families in the Santa Barbara area."
The first shipment of modems and other equipment will be delivered toward the end of August or early September.
Jessica Jones, Managing Editor
