New hope from old tech: Eden Prairie students lead gadget drive to expand access, reduce e-waste

Got extra gadgets lying around the house that are out of date or unneeded?

One option: Donate them to the Grateful for Gadgets Tech Drive, an effort organized by Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) student organizations Tech to Transform and DECA.

The tech drive, which takes place Nov. 11-24, will collect a wide array of tech items, from chargers to phones and computers to televisions (see full list below). The items will then be given to Free Geek Twin Cities, a Minneapolis-based thrift store that will refurbish and sell them at affordable prices.

Jia Chenchlani and Anisha Surily, both juniors at EPHS, are DECA members who also run Tech to Transform, a nonprofit focused on increasing computer science literacy for people of all ages and backgrounds.

Computer science literacy is multifaceted, Chenchlani said: “There’s the knowledge aspect, and then there’s the access aspect.”

While Eden Prairie Schools requires students to take technology coursework to graduate, this is not the case in many other Minnesota districts, Chenchlani said. To help increase computer science and digital literacy, Tech to Transform is making community outreach efforts, including an upcoming activity at a Chaska middle school.

Tech to Transform also hopes to advocate with state legislators to expand tech education. “The goal is to make computer science credits required by the Minnesota Department of Education,” Chenchlani said.

“Digital literacy is necessary in this day and age,” she added. “No matter what career field you go into, you’re going to be constantly surrounded by it. And if you don’t know how to both use it safely and harness its abilities, it’s going to hurt you.”

Meanwhile, the Grateful for Gadgets Tech Drive aims to support Tech to Transform’s goal of increasing tech access by lowering cost barriers, Surily said.

After the drive is over, she said, “We will give all of the items we collected to Free Geek in downtown Minneapolis. They will refurbish them, then sell them to people at a very low and affordable cost. This makes the tech accessible to a lot of people.”

Free Geek Twin Cities has a brick-and-mortar store located between the Seward and Longfellow neighborhoods, as well as an online store. Free Geek sells a huge array of refurbished modern and retro-tech items, including games, audio, cables, computers, and televisions.

Surily added that if donated items cannot be refurbished by Free Geek, they can be used for spare parts or recycled in an environmentally friendly way.

When and where to donate

The drive will run from Sunday, Nov. 10, to Sunday, Nov 24. Devices can be dropped off at three locations:

• Eden Prairie High School (North Doors): 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.
• Eden Prairie Community Center (Lobby): 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
• The PROP Shop of Eden Prairie: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Donation guidelines

• Accepted items (no matter how old or broken): Computers, laptops, tablets, keyboards/mice, cords, chargers, phones, digital cameras, VHS, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, Blu-ray players/media, video game consoles, games and controllers, calculators, electronic toys and games, networking equipment.
• Not accepted: Solar panels, televisions larger than 55 inches, bulky projection televisions, large printers and scanners, large appliances, light bulbs, sewing machines, gas-powered devices, smoke detectors, electric toothbrushes.

For questions or concerns, Tech to Transform can be contacted at techtotransform23@gmail.com or through Instagram DMs on @tech_to_transform.