- How does someone qualify to receive a refurbishd Mac?
- What happens with donated Macs?
- Who pays for the parts and shipping?
- Have other questions?
How does someone qualify to receive a refurbished Mac or Chromebook?
We don’t take requests from individuals for computers but rely on referrals. We will almost always make contact with the individual or family that has been recommended to make sure that they are interested and to get some basic information so that we can best configure the computer to their needs.
We can not supply an Internet connection or provide more than basic training, so recipients must be interested in learning how to use a Macintosh or a /chromebook.
A thank you letter is requested so we have something to put in our records.
Referrals should go to our mailing address or through the “Contact Us” page. A call to our office or email will also get things started (but we can’t respond as quickly). If a non-profit is looking for computers, we ask for a formal letter of request that we can keep in our files. As a 501(c)3, we have to keep good records for the state of Maryland and the IRS.
Mac laptops ready for repair or distribution.
What happens with donated Macs and Chromebooks?
Please know that the Macs and Chromebooks that are donated to us are thoroughly checked and cleaned. Hard drives (on Macs) are securely wiped of all data and an appropriate version of the Mac OS is installed.
Chromebooks are Power Washed or a new Chrome OS appropriate to that machine is installed.
If the Mac can not be made to work (and we get some that just don’t want to work no matter what we do) we will take out any reusable parts including hard drives, memory, batteries, sometimes the power supplies and optical drives and send the hulk to Montgomery County’s Processing Facility and Transfer Station in Derwood (Gaithersburg), Maryland which is the closest county recycling center to us. Here’s a map. Other parts (like aluminum frames, etc.) are also recycled at appropriate facilities.
Non-working Chromebooks will be disassembled into their component parts for recycling or to use as parts for future use.
Who pays for the parts and shipping?
In most cases, folks that are receiving comuters come to our workspace at Silver Spring United Methodist Church to pick up their computers. But we have taken computers to people when that was the best solution.
We also work with volunteers who take computers to outlying areas of the Washington, D.C. area or Baltimore and beyond to deliver Macs or computers that will make up a Mac Lab. We don’t ship parts very often but if we do, we usually ask for shipping costs up front if the recipient can afford it. Again, we have donated Macs around the world, but we remain a group that focuses on donations in the DMV region.
Have other questions?
Send us a message through the Contact Us page
