While it may be too early to say fall is in the air, it’s not too early to focus on the upcoming school year.
That’s exactly what we did in Topeka in early August with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Topeka (BGCT).
I visited the club to help distribute 200 refurbished laptops, provided by Human-I-T, and backpacks stuffed with school supplies to club members.
This distribution is part of a broader AT&T employee effort to help bridge the digital divide and equip 22,000 students across the country with laptops and backpacks before they head back to school in 2024. In addition to supplies like notebooks, pencils and headphones, the backpacks included cards of encouragement written by AT&T employees.
And, it’s part of the AT&T Connected Learning® initiative to help address the digital divide through internet accessibility, affordability and safe adoption. AT&T is committing $5 billion to help 25 million people get and stay connected to high-speed internet by 2030.
In Kansas, it’s estimated that 11% of households don’t have access to the internet or connected devices needed to fully participate in the online world, an issue known as the digital divide.
Heather Stults-Lindsay, the BGCT’s Director of Events & Alumni Engagement, organized the event and shared how excited they are to team up with us for this project.
Pat Colley of Zinnia, a longtime community volunteer for BGCT who joined us at the event, told me the “contribution is a huge step forward in closing the gap on access to technology and will set many Club members up for success. We are so appreciative of this opportunity for our youth – our future is now even brighter.”
I also had a chance to meet some extraordinary young people who are the future business, civic and government leaders of our state. I’m glad that we could help them connect to greater possibility.
Learn more at att.com/connectedlearning.
