Nick Gray takes a break during the Computer Recycling Drive held Saturday, March 5th at the Columbia Area Career Center. Several businesses and individuals donated a variety of useful and interesting items.

​Sarah Grim, CEO of Welcome Home, Inc. accepts four laptops from CACC students Pranav Patel and John Seina. Student in the Repair It Forward program refurbish donated computers and provide them to local charities and the focus this year is to provide resources from veterans. So far, Repair It Forward has provided computers to the American Legion and the Veterans Service Center at Columbia College and will be donating a computer lab to Patriot Place, when it opens later this month. Welcome Home, Inc. has been serving homeless veterans since 1992.  

SkillsUSA members Nick Gray and John Seina present 4 laptops to Randy Burk and Keith Glindemann of Columbia College. The laptops will be provided to veterans as part of the college's Veterans Service Center. 

​Members of the SkillsUSA Columbia Area Career Center chapter helped residents of the Boone’s Landing community with their technology questions. The training session was part of the Center’s promotion of Career and Technical Education month. The students helped seniors navigate email, use cell phone apps and access photos.  

CACC students  took 1st and 2nd  place in the Information Technology Services Competition at the SkillsUSA District Conference held at State Fair Community College, Sedalia, February 19th. The two qualified for the state competition being held at State Technical College of Missouri March 31st through April 2nd.

​From the Columbia Chamber of Commerce Member News

​The Repair It Forward program of the Columbia Area Career Center is working with the Columbia Housing Authority and Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital to provide a computer lab for Patriot Place, an apartment building for low-income and homeless veterans. Plans for the lab include 25 computers that A+ IT students in the program will refurbish. If your organization has computers to donate, please contact David Hopkins at dhopkins@cpsk12.org or 573-808-6621

​Jessica Luster, supervisor with Great Circle, accepts a donation of five laptops from Mike Teter (center), Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance’s(MeM) IT Resource and Performance Manager, for use at the center. MeM is rolling out new laptops for employees and is in the process of donating retired computers.
The computers were refurbished through the Columbia Area Career Center’s (CACC) Repair It Forward program. The program rebuilds donated machines and provides them to local non-profit groups. Representing Repair It Forward were David Hopkins (left), sponsor, and CACC student Pranav Patel.
“The Repair It Forward program is a great way for us to ensure that our donated computers are in good working condition and have been properly configured before they reach their new home” says Teter.  “It’s a fantastic program that benefits both students learning new skills and those in those in our community who are in need of access to technology.”
Great Circle is a premier provider of specialized behavioral health programs whose highly-trained professionals serve thousands of children and families in Missouri. Susan Reeves,
Director of Advancement for Great Circle, is thankful for the donation. “The gift of refurbished laptops increases Great Circle's capacity to transform vulnerable lives by equipping our youth care supervisors with advanced technology that allows for more efficient 24-hour staff scheduling ”, says Reeves.