A University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh program that donates used computers
to area nonprofits has gained momentum as a way to help members of
the Wisconsin Army National Guard 1157th Transportation Company stay
in close contact with home.
Michelle Jensen, (photo, below right) assistant to UWO's
College of Education and Human Services Dean Frederick Yeo, has collected
13 Macintosh computers and two laptop computers from university offices
to donate to members of the 1157th, currently training at Camp Atterbury
in Edinburg, Ind., before being deployed as 
part
of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"Their story just hit me because I have a brother in the service
and he has 16 years in," Jensen said. "A mother of one of
the troops was explaining it was her daughter's first time over there
and I could understand how hard it is when your loved one is gone
and you have no contact with them."
Jensen's brother, Scott Jensen, is a crew chief with the U.S. Air
National Guard based at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.
She came up with the idea as part of a UWO program that normally
donates computers the university can no longer use to nonprofits in
the Oshkosh area. UWO Director of Academic Computing Laura Knaapen
said about 70 or 80 computers have been donated to agencies such as
the Oshkosh Public Museum, the Lake Winnebago Mutual Assistance Program,
Clarity Care, the Oshkosh Senior Center, Grace Lutheran Church, the
Oshkosh Area Humane Society and the Winnebago Interfaith Needs Response,
or WINR, this year alone.
"I'm very happy with the program. I'm really glad the College
of Education and Human Services came up with the idea of sending them
along to the 1157th," Knaapen said. "It shows we're certainly
part of the community and helps us connect that way."
But the program still needs assistance. Jensen said the military
has told her government funds cannot be used to transport the computers
to Camp Atterbury.
"We have to find somebody willing to transport them down there,
like a trucking company, if we want to get our care package to them,"
Jensen said
How can I help?
The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh has collected at least 15 computers
to send to the 1157th Transportation Company so its members can stay
in contact with friends and family while on active duty. But the university
needs to raise funds to pay for the cost to ship the machines to Indiana,
where the 1157th is currently training.
Call Michelle Jensen at 424-3322 to find out how you can help.
