News Release
March 14, 2007
Vons Charitable Foundation donates $10,000 to Computers for Families
The Vons Charitable Foundation, which is funded solely by employee contributions, gave a gift of $10,000 to Computers for Families (CFF) on March 14 at the Vons in Carpinteria. District Manager Terry Richardson presented the check to Team Carpinteria, a group of volunteers dedicated to raising $1 million in that geographic area in support of Computers for Families.
Computers for Families has for ten years provided students from low-income families with computers, Internet access, and training, in an effort to eliminate the digital divide between families that can afford computers for their children and those who cannot. The goal of the sustainability fund is to make CFF self-sufficient by establishing a $4 million endowment to fund the program’s annual budget of $200,000. To date, $2.8 million has been raised.
Computers for Families, a joint project of Santa Barbara Partners in Education and the Santa Barbara County Education Office, seeks to eliminate the negative consequences of the digital divide by providing students from low-income families with refurbished computers, Internet access, and training. Related program goals include improving the computer literacy of students and families, helping teachers develop computer and Internet-based programs, and helping juvenile offenders obtain computer repair skills and ultimately good jobs by training them to refurbish and repair the donated computers. Since its beginning in 1997, Computers for Families has placed more than 5,000 computers in the homes of local students.
The Vons Foundation supports charitable programs that improve the quality of life in the communities where we work and live, advocating the philanthropic aims and ideals of Vons employees.