CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — A Corpus Christi City Councilman is teaming up with the community for a device donation drive from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Sears Auto Center parking lot at 1305 Airline Rd.
District 2 Councilman Ben Molina said in a partnership with Maria Bursby and PC Performance Service and Repair owner Roy Reyna Jr., they will be accepting new and used tablets, laptops and headphones in the curbside drop-off event.
Molina, a father himself, said even though the Corpus Christi Independent School District has been providing devices for students, he sees an opportunity to help.
“The issue with that is that they’ve only provided one device per household,” Molina said. “So you have households that have multiple children that are having trouble accessing the internet for online learning. So we’re trying to bridge that divide.”
Although City Council approved a resolution on Aug. 25 as part of a consent agenda to provide up to $752,000 from the city’s Coronavirus Relief Fund allocation through the CARES Act to CCISD and Flour Bluff ISD, Molina said the donation drive would faster equip CCISD students with computers devices for remote learning.
“That is one way that we as a city are helping our kids here in the area,” Molina said. “This is just an extra step. This is something that — we’re not just handing out money here. We’re handing out devices — we’re handing out hope.”
The donated devices will be serviced by PC Performance so they will all be in good working order. Students who do receive these devices will be able to keep them.
Reyna said he’s noticed first-hand how difficult it can be to purchase a new device from major retailers.
“This is a pattern that’s happening and it’s going to be repeating — who knows how long it’s going to stay,” Reyna said. “It’s important that we stay proactive and we do something about it. Because these are our kids — this is our community — and we got to teach them something. They’re our future.”
The goal, Molina said, is to get the devices out to students within two weeks following the donation drive.
“(It’s) just depending on the amount of devices that we collect and that have to be serviced,” Molina said. “As soon a we can get those out, we’re going to get them to the students.”
For those who are unable to make it to the event Saturday, drop-off arrangements can be made with PC Performance Service and Repair by calling them at (361) 290-8682.
