How BC Digital Divide Got Started
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Five weeks before Christmas 2005, Sian Aitken, a Vancouver realtor, asked her friend, Vancouver software entrepreneur, Robert Werner, a simple question: "I have a perfectly good computer that's a few years old but just bought a new one. What can I do with the old one?" He thought about it and said, "Give it to me and I'll find a needy family that can use it." So he asked around to everyone he knew, seeking to find someone who normally couldn't afford a computer. His search ended in disappointment though, with not a single lead obtained. Being quite stubborn (he prefers the term "persistent"), he was determined to find someone and would not give up so easily. So he placed this ad on Craigslist (click on it to see the full-sized version) : Within 24 hours, about 50 people had responded to this ad. Of these, he felt that nine were truly in need. But now he had a new predicament: 1 computer, yet 9 worthy recipients. What to do? Stubbornness kicked in again and he did everything he could to put out the word that he needed 8 more computers. One thing he did was publish this on his personal blog. Still, with Christmas fast approaching, he had only received the equivalent of 5 computers. Then something amazing happened. On December 18th this article was published in the Vancouver Courier and this segment from John Daly appeared on BCTV. The word quickly spread and the generosity of Vancouverites came shining true. Apparently the switchboard at BCTV was so flooded with calls that they decided to display a special e-mail address Robert had set up again. Within 24 hours over 125 people had offered to donate one or more computer systems! Within a few days the number climbed to over 800!! People started dropping off systems round the clock at Robert's apartment. More prospective recipients contacted him and were put into the queue. The corporate donations started piling in too. Dale, the owner of PrintSavers, donated a free cartridge to every recipient receiving a printer. Staples donated several hundred dollars worth of educational software. When this 24 Hours article appeared, Steve Medicoff from Shaw, donated a dozen free 6-month high-speed Internet packages. With great patience from his neighbours and some amazing help from his friend & colleague, Geoff Meredith, his mom, and others, somehow by the evening of December 23rd a dozen systems had been refurbished and were ready to go! The finishing touch was an idea from the reporter, John Daly: Robert's mom prepared a special red ribbon around each computer keyboard. It was the perfect finishing touch. The morning of Xmas Eve was cold & damp. But the Christmas Spirit in Vancouver was alive and well! Using a donated van from Enterprise, Robert and his Seattle friend, Ahmed, ventured out to donate eight systems - in Burnaby, New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, Surrey, Abbotsford, and Maple Ridge. It was a long day but an absolutely profound and exhilarating one for two of Santa's hi-tech elves! Part of their journey was captured in this BCTV news segment. The next day, three more systems were delivered: one in Richmond and two in Vancouver. And the Courier published this follow-up article. Then Robert and the rest of the elves went into a much needed hibernation! It had become obvious that Robert had quite accidentally discovered an untapped need:
And though he was still quite exhausted from the experience at Xmas, the amazing positive energy he had gained from donors and recipients alike was just something he could not let pass by. One of the keys to move things forward was to register a website address. At first he was going to just use "YVRDigitalDivide", to signify the Vancouver area. But his friend, Geoff, suggested going with "BCDigitalDivide" instead. And since it was a volunteer organization and not a company the ".org" extension was used. This is how the little Christmas project blossomed into a more formal organization. But with a fulltime software consulting business running and a new company in the works, Robert realized that he couldn't do it all on his own. So he put out the word that he needed more volunteers to join the team he was trying to build. On the last day of 2005 an interesting man named Bruce Steven came over to visit Robert. A burly tradesman by profession, Bruce had taught himself the ins and outs of the technical aspects that make up the inside of a computer. Bruce signed on and quickly became the lead tech in the organization. Shaw Cable did a little segment about Bruce and BCDD. A little later, Bob Rogers, a retired BC Tel employee and an all round wonderful fellow joined on. He was followed by Stan Hryckiw, whose wife, Thelma, was a childhood friend of Robert's and had reconnected with him after seeing one of the segments on TV. On the coordination side of the organization, we've been blessed to have the tremendous help of Mabel Ho, a local accountant originally from Hong Kong via Dallas, Jen Crothers, a recent transplant from Australia, and Joanne Smith, a resident of Langley. Our website was developed by Brian Koehler, a professor at Langara College, and is now being expanded by Hazel Siu, a talented local web developer. There are countless others too who have helped out since its conception, especially with the pick-up and delivery of systems. Everyone at BCDD is a volunteer. It's an organization that proves the old adage that a group of dedicated people working successfully together can achieve much more than the sum of each of them working alone. If you're interested in joining our great team and giving something back to your community then please click here. The one thing we can promise you is that you'll find it extremely rewarding! We now have our own YouTube channel, which you can view here. It includes this special segment done by Global TV reporter, Grace Ke: |
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