When Saket first volunteered with World Computer Exchange, he wasn’t just looking for a service project, he was looking for a way to make a meaningful impact. A recent high school graduate from California’s East Bay, Saket was introduced to WCE through his father, who had volunteered with the organization several years earlier. Together, they revived local computer collection efforts, setting the stage for an extraordinary Eagle Scout project.
The project began with donated computers from across the Bay Area, but everything changed when Khan Labs in Palo Alto donated 100 MacBooks that were headed for disposal. Rather than allowing perfectly functional computers to become electronic waste, Saket saw an opportunity to extend their lives and put them into the hands of students who could benefit from them. As part of his Eagle Scout project, he refurbished 10 of those MacBooks for girls’ schools in India, while helping restore the remaining devices for future educational use.
Refurbishing more than 100 laptops presented its share of challenges. Installing new operating systems proved difficult due to hard drive errors and Wi-Fi connectivity issues during setup. To overcome these obstacles, Saket created custom hard drives that allowed the installations to proceed successfully. In addition to solving technical problems, he spent countless hours cleaning, sanitizing, and preparing every computer so each one would be ready for its next owner.
Working with his father, Saket helped identify two Colorado organizations that support foster families and children and will distribute the laptops directly to foster youth across the state. Be the Source, based in Denver, works primarily with foster families in the Denver metro area, where Colorado has the highest concentration of children in foster care. Hope & Home, also based in Denver, has smaller offices throughout the state, making it possible to reach foster children in more rural communities as well, including the Western Slope and the plains. Together, these partnerships will help ensure that all 100 refurbished laptops are distributed to foster children in Colorado, giving them access to tools for schoolwork, learning, and connection.
For Saket, the experience transformed the way he views technology. “A MacBook that a family sets aside after an upgrade isn’t useless to a student in an underserved community,” he explained. “It could be the tool that opens the door to education, opportunity, and connection.” He also came to see that sustainability and community service go hand in hand and every refurbished computer both reduces electronic waste and creates new opportunities for learning.
Saket says the most rewarding part of the project was knowing the laptops would no longer sit unused in a garage, but instead help students learn, create, and connect with the world. As he prepares to begin his studies in biological sciences at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo this fall, he hopes other students will remember that meaningful change often starts with a single act of service.