Happy New Year!

As we close out 2010, we want to thank everyone who has supported us this year with your time, your computer donations and your financial support. 2010 was a great year for Empower Up and 2011 is going to be even bigger and better! Happy New Years everyone!

WE DID IT!

Empower Up has met our fundraising goal for 2010. Our goal was $40,000 for the year and as of today we are up to $47,731. Thanks to all who gave this year to help support our organization. What a great way to end the year.

Can't we all just get along?

At Empower Up, we're curious about everything to do with computers. That's while you'll find all three major operating systems (at least for personal use) in our facility. We use Windows XP for administrative computers, We sell some computers with Windows XP and some with no OS at all via our Reuse Store. Our class room/Internet Cafe has 1 Ubuntu and 1 MacOS and 10 Windows XP terminals (all running off Windows Server 2003). Some of the free computers we grant are loaded with Ubuntu and some with Windows XP. We are in the process of building a database server that will be running a version of Linux in what is known as a LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) and will be part of a new Point of Sale (POS) system that will be an open source software implementation.

We also do a lot in the "cloud". We use Google Apps for most our our internal IT infrastructure - email, calendars, document sharing and online colaboration. We also use DropBox to backup all our files on multiple computers, including several off-site.

Soroptimist International of Vancouver Anniversary Dinner

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Soroptimist International of Vancouver Anniversary Dinner, celebrating 69 years of the organizations history. The group also gives out their annual grant awards to worthy organizations. This year we are helping their dollars go further by fulfilling any computer technology requests. We are providing a refurbished office computer to one of the four award winners, Open House Ministries, this leaves the full $500 grant available to the organization to spend on other needs.

The dinner was held at Galeotti's Restaurant in Battle Ground, excellent food and wine. If your looking for a great meal while on Main Street...check it out.

New signs!

The fine folks at Security Signs have started the installation process to replace both ours and the Clark County Habitat for Humanity Store's monument and building signs. Our signs were still showing our old name (CREAM) and the Habitat Store has changed from being the ReStore. There is another organization in Washington that owns the rights to ReStore in WA...so rather than fight it, the Habitat folks just changed their name to Store just in Washington.

More photos to follow when they finish installing the building signs. We also have a new sign for the Education Center on order that will be installed after the first of the year.

E-waste & Block Foam Clean Up 12/4 9a to 1p

This Saturday from 9a to 1p, Empower Up and Clark County Environmental Services are teaming up to collect your old electronics and block foam for recycling. Tomorrows event is at the Fishers Landing Transit Center, located at 3510 SE 164th Ave. We will be accepting computers and other consumer electronics as well a clean dry Styrofoam. We are NOT ACCEPTING: CRT televisions, monitors, fluorescent light bulbs or microwave ovens at this event.

Computers are given new life at Empower Up

A super-fabulous article about Empower Up in the Camas Post-Record.

It’s a place where old computer parts come to die.

At Empower Up in Vancouver, wires, mother boards, hard disks and CPUs are stripped from their plastic containers and, along with items including monitors, and dumped into one of the receptacles that neatly line the wall of the warehouse style building — like coffins that hold the bits and pieces of what once was.

But at the home of this non-profit entity, these previously unwanted parts are not forwarded on to a landfill somewhere. Instead, they are brought back to life through the organization’s re-use and recycling efforts.

Empower Up offers a variety of services and re-furbished products to the community. Among them are free computer education classes, job skills training, access to the Internet, and computers for people and families in need. To support these efforts, donated computers and electronics are re-used and recycled.

“We’re trying to make sure everyone has access to modern society,” said Executive Director Oso Martin. “There’s an entire segment of society that is being left behind. Everything we’re doing is toward that end.”

Those who use the organization’s education services often at first have little experience with computers, software or the Internet.

“There is a huge fear factor that is a barrier,” Martin said. “Once you get them on there though, they are coming right back to get that Facebook account. Their confidence and self-esteem is up. It’s a good feeling to do this kind of work and see the impact you have on folks.”

There is also a thrift store at the 5000 E. Fourth Plain Blvd. location where computers not used in the organization’s other programs are tested and refurbished and offered for sale at reasonable prices.

Empower Up, formerly known as “Computer REuse And Marketing,” or C.R.E.A.M., provides its services in partnership with governments including Clark County and the City of Vancouver, organizations including The Salvation Army, educational entities such as Clark College and businesses like Waste Connections.

One-third of the Empower Up income comes from recovery of materials.

“We try to re-use as much as possible because it’s better for the environment,” said Recycling Manager Jerry Hatch. “We are adding value without adding cost.”

Empower Up became an official 501(c)3 non-profit in February 2009, but the efforts of the organization began many years earlier.

In January 2003, the program established collection sites for e-waste within the county. At times it has been a challenge to get the word out to the community, but results are becoming visible.

“It’s gotten better,” Hatch said of the success of efforts to inform the community about the Empower Up programs. “It’s been a fight for a while to get people to know about it. But we’re getting there.”

Since 2009, Empower Up has received more than 18,000 pieces of donated electronics from more than 3,100 individuals, small businesses and non-profits. Five thousand have been refurbished.

Generally, Hatch said Empower Up can get the best use out of computers that are five years old or newer. However, they will take just about anything. Computers that can’t be re-sold are broken down and used for their parts.

That’s where Jerry Kurtti comes in. He is one of the volunteers who de-constructs computers that are donated to Empower Up. He has been on the job for about the past four months. It is work he enjoys.

“I started volunteering at other places,” said the retiree, “but a lot of them weren’t very organized. But when I come here, I know exactly what I have to do. I tear these babies apart and leave.”

Empower Up has logged more than 9,500 hours of service from 484 interns and volunteers like Kurtti.

“Volunteers are the engine that helps to run the green machine we are here,” Martin said. “We are here to make their volunteer experience fun and enjoyable. Volunteers are doing the work and having fun at the same time.”

Running the day-to-day tasks of the operation are four paid staff members, including Martin, Hatch, Reuse Manager Jennifer Buschman and Volunteer Manager Shelly Caldwell.

When Empower Up first started as a non-profit in 2009, it was under an agreement with Clark County and the City of Vancouver stipulating that within two years those governments would no longer provide funding to the organization and it would have to be stand on its own.

“The idea is that when our funding runs out we will have built up our basic income streams,” Martin said. “I have no reason to believe we will not be sustainable on our own when the time comes.”

Currently underway is a fund-raising campaign, with the goal of bringing in $40,000 by the end of the year.

The effort was given a boost when an anonymous donor contributed $20,000.

Martin said he is hoping others see the potential for what Empower Up can continue to accomplish in the community.

“We are just scratching the surface with our little operation here.”

The Story of Electronics

This is a great video about the life-cycle of consumer electronics by the folks at the Story of Stuff Project. It really shows the unfortunate impact of some of the choices we make. Empower Up helps to eliminate these kinds of problems by emphasizing reuse over recycling and using a highly ethical recycling process that is designed specifically to prevent the kinds of environmental problems described in the video. All materials are disassembled or otherwise processed by Empower Up volunteers or by our domestic partners. No materials are sent to developing nations for recycling.

E-Waste & Block Foam Round Up - Sat. Nov 6, 9a-1p

Empower Up and Clark County Environmental Services are teaming up to collect your used electronics and block foam (Styrofoam). NO CRT monitors, CRT televisions or microwave ovens are accepted at this collection event.

• Clark College Yellow Parking Lot #1
• Saturday, November 6, 2010
• 9:00AM to 1:00PM

Clean out your garages and basements and stop on by...Empower Up transforms your e-waste into free technology education opportunities in Clark County.

100 Tons so far this year...

Our recycling efforts for the year have just crossed the 100 ton mark. That's 201,331 lbs of ferrous & non-ferrous metals, plastic and glass kept from the landfills...so far. As a responsible reuse organization, we take great care to ensure that all of the non-functioning and obsolete equipment is transformed into re-usable materials.

Internet Cafe Expansion

We've just expanded our Internet Cafe network. There are now 11 computer terminals available for public access. 9 Windows, 1 Mac and 1 Ubuntu (Linux). We love helping people get connected!

Free PC Clinic - Sat. Oct. 9 - 10am to Noon

Computer problems? Maybe we can help. Empower Up and the Clark College Help Desk sponsor a free monthly PC Clinic at the Empower Up Education Center. The clinic is drop-in, first come, first served. The Empower Up Education Center is located at 5000 E. 4th Plain Blvd. Suite E-101. Free PC Clinics are held the second Saturday of every month from 10am to noon.

Recycle your old electronics Oct. 2

KATU has posted our upcoming e-waste clean-up event. We think that means we'll be extra busy on Saturday!

E-waste Collection events in October.

This Saturday, Oct. 2nd, Empower Up and Clark County Environmental Services are teaming up to collect e-waste and block foam. Event is located at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center, 3510 S.E. 164th Ave., Vancouver and runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. No TVs, CRT monitors or microwave ovens accepted at this event.

The following Saturday, Oct. 9th, Empower Up and Clark County Environmental Services will be collecting e-waste, household hazardous waste (HHW) and block foam at the Clark County Public Works Operations Center, 4700 N.E. 78th St., Vancouver, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. TV's, CRT monitors will be accepted at this event only. No microwave ovens accepted at this event.

Empower Up On Clark County Close Up

Last month Clark Vancouver Television (CVTV) filmed a nice little feature on our organization.

$20,000 Matching Grant

Empower Up is pleased to announce the receipt of a $20,000 matching pledge. Every dollar we raise between now and the end of the year will be matched dollar for dollar up to $20,000. Double the impact of your giving by donating during this extraordinary opportunity.

Non-profit organization helps to Empower Big Dreams

KATU has a nice article on the home page of the Vancouver News section about us donating computers to another Vancouver non-profit, the Dream Big Community Center.

We're Number Seven!

So the Vancouver Business Journal just landed in the mailbox and this months lists are all about non-profits. Based on our 2009 tax return, we are the 7th largest education non-profit in Clark County. 2009 was our first year and the budget has grown substantially over the past year, I wonder where we'll be ranked next year? Will update with link when issue goes online.

Computer education group expands hours

A nice newspaper article (sorry, no online link) in the new Oregonian Community News section about our new expanded hours in the Donation Center and Thrift Store.

Empower Up, Clark County's local computer education and reuse non-profit has expanded hours to meet the growing demand for low-cost reused electronics.

Starting on Sept. 1, the operating hours for the Donation Center & Thrift Store were extended for an extra hour every day. The new hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

We were always turning folks away at 5 p.m. By being open an extra hour each day, we hope that people that are working during the week will be better able to take advantage of our low prices.

Empower Up provides free education resources to those in need gain access to technology and the Internet.

Free computer classes are available to the public. Each month, we host PC and Mac clinics that offer free help for computer problems to the public.

Empower Up also provides free public Internet access terminals from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons.

We provide free technical training for volunteers interested in learning how to repair and refurbish computers and electronics.

Empower Up accepts both working and non-working computers and other consumer electronics from the public for reuse and recycling. A tax deductible receipt is provided.

Please call 360-735-0888 during business hours to sign-up for classes or get further information by going to www.empowerupnow.org. Participants must be pre-registered to attend classes.

- Oso Martin, executive director, Empower Up

Help us grant Computer Scholarships

Empower Up is looking for community members that are interested in reviewing student essay submissions in order to determine computer scholarships for Clark County youths. If you live in the 'Couve/Clark County area and like the kids, you should sign-up. We plan to give out a minimum of 100 computer systems per year via this program. Drop us an Email if you are interested in serving on the selection committee. Reviews will occur four times per year.

End-of-Year Fund Raising Appeal

Empower Up needs to raise an additional $40,000 by the end of the year to keep all of our programs running. Please use the "Donate" button on the right hand side of the blog to make a contribution to help support our program. Every dollar helps us to continue to provide free computer education opportunities to the residents of Clark County.

Computer education nonprofit expands hours

Latest article in the Columbian about our new hours. The Empower Up Donation Center & Thrift Store is now open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Tuesday through Saturday.

E-waste & Block Foam Round-up - Clark College

This Saturday, Sept. 4, Empower Up and Clark County Sustainability and Outreach are teaming up to collect electronics and block foam (Styrofoam) at the Clark College Yellow Parking Lot No. 1, located off Fort Vancouver Way. Event is from 9am to 1pm.

Clothing Swap

Tuesday August 31 @ the Empower Up Thrift Store & Donation Center. In partnership with the Habitat ReStore and Vancouver Green Drinks...don't miss it! Swap begins @ 6:00pm.

http://reusing.blogspot.com/p/community-clothing-swap.html

Expanded Donation Center & Thrift Store Hours

Starting on September 1, Empower Up and the Habitat for Humanity Clark County ReStore will be expanding our store hours and staying open an hour later everyday. The new hours are:

9:00AM to 6:00PM

Tuesday to Saturday

Stop on by and get a great deal on that refurbished computer or stereo component that you've always wanted.

Back-2-School Sale

Empower Up is having a sale! Back-2-School savings of 10% off computers & laptops and 25% off everything else in the store. We have several laptops this week and a few dual-core desktops. Sale runs now until the end of August.

Free PC Clinic

Having computer problems? Bring in your PC! This Saturday, August 14th from 10 a.m. to noon, Empower Up will be hosting a PC Clinic facilitated by Clark College Student Help Desk. Service is first-come, first-served and FREE!

Green Fair - UUCV, July 18

Empower Up will be helping kids make wind chimes from used computer parts at this years Green Fair at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Vancouver (located at 4505 East 18th Street). The event goes from 11:15am to 1pm. Come check it out!

E-Waste & HHW Collection Event - Battleground

Today (right now in fact) Empower Up and Clark County Sustainability & Outreach are collecting electronics and household hazardous waste from 9a to 1p. Event is located at the Battleground Police Station at the intersection of 1st and 5th, just off Main Street in Battleground city center. Clean out those basements, closets and sheds and come on down.

Empower Up Rocks the Clark County Recycled Arts Festival

Empower Up staff & volunteers spent the day helping folks to make their very own wind chimes from recycled hard drives and other salvaged computer parts at this years Clark County Recycled Arts Festival in Esther Short Park. Great weather was on hand for all of the many crafty booths representing an impressive amount of reuse.

We're at it again tomorrow from 9am to 4pm. Stop on by and say hello.

Empower Up staff member and volunteer both featured in Columbian article.

A great story in the Columbian newspaper about the class of 2010 graduating from Clark College. Our very own Recycling Manager, Jerry Hatcher and education and thrift store volunteer Cathi Aakervic are both prominently featured. That's Jerry at the front of the line.

Clark County Recycled Arts Festival - June 26 & 27

Look for Empower Up at this years Clark County Recycled Arts Festival 9am to 4pm on Saturday June 26 and Sunday June 27 at Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver. While you're there you can stop by our booth and make your self a wind-chime out recycled computer hard drives. Be sure to visit the Vancouver Farmer's Market which is right next to the park on Esther Street - 9am to 3pm Saturday and 10am to 3pm Sunday.

E-Waste & HHW Collection Event - 6/19, Camas, 9a-2p

This coming Saturday morning, Empower Up and Clark County Sustainability & Outreach are teaming up once again to help you clean out your closets, garages and basements of electronics, Styrofoam and HHW (Household Hazardous Waste). Event is located at Camas Public Works 1620 SE 8th Ave., Camas WA.

E-Waste & HHW Collection Event - 6/12, Hokinson, 9a-1p

Tomorrow morning, Empower Up and Clark County Sustainability & Outreach are teaming up once again to help you clean out your closets, garages and basements of electronics, Styrofoam and HHW (Household Hazardous Waste). Event is located at Hokinson Fire Station, 17718 NE 159th St., Hokinson, WA.

WSRA Conference wrap up.

Finally recovered from the WSRA 30th Annual Conference that was held over May 23-26. The after party at the Red Lion was really fun...hence the needed recovery.

There were some great presentations, including a great life cycle analysis of single use water bottles vs tap water (spoiler alert: tap water wins!) and Seattle gardening celebrity, Ciscoe Morris gave a 188 slide show about natural gardens that was really interesting and pretty funny to boot.

It was great to meet many of the folks in the Washington recycling community. We hope to be participating in the conference for a long time to come.

WSRA Conference - May 23 - 26, Vancouver Hilton

Empower will be assisting with the 30th Annual WSRA Conference this week at the Hilton in downtown Vancouver. Our staff is getting free registration in exchange for providing all the multimedia technology, such as laptops, LCD projectors and sound systems. We also baby sit each laptop/projector to make sure everything goes smoothly for the moderators and presenters. First session is this afternoon with Oregon DEQ's David Allaway (his talks are always very interesting and thought provoking) and culminating with a tour of the Empower Up facilities on Wednesday afternoon. Big thanks to our Reuse Manager Jen for helping to get all 4 laptops installed, updated and prepped for the event.

E-Waste & HHW Collection Event - 5/22, Fern Prairie, 9a-1p

Tomorrow morning, Empower Up and Clark County Solid Waste are teaming up once again to help you clean out your garages and basements of electronics, Styrofoam and HHW (Household Hazardous Waste). Event is located at Fern Prairie Fire Station, 600 NE 267th Ave, Fern Prairie, WA.

E-Waste & HHW Cleanup - Washougal, 5/15 9a-1p

Tomorrow morning, Empower Up and Clark County Solid Waste are teaming up once again to help you clean out your garages and basements of electronics, Styrofoam and HHW (Household Hazardous Waste). Event is located at Washougal Public Works, 2201 C Street, Washougal, WA.

E-Waste & HHW Cleanup - La Center, 5/8 9a-1p

This coming weekend, Empower Up and Clark County Solid Waste are teaming up once again to help you clean out your garages and basements of electronics, Styrofoam and HHW (Household Hazardous Waste). Event is located at the La Center Fire Station, 414 E Cedar Ave. in La Center.

Non-profit & Business Connections Fair

Just returned from the Non-profit Network of Southwest Washington's annual Non-profit & Business Connections Fair at the Hilton in downtown Vancouver. Kind of a debut party for the new name. Lots of good networking thanks to our esteemed board members Leonard and Tricia (pictured) who were working the room on our behalf. We scored a gift certificate to Tommy O's too!

Empower Up Thrift Store One Year Anniversary

Today marks the one year anniversary of the opening of the Empower Up Donation Center and Thrift Store. We celebrated with a little 10% off everything sale. Our friends at the Clark County ReStore share our anniversary too. Big thanks to all of the many volunteers that made the first year possible.

Recycle Your Computer @Work Day - DHS Edition

Empower Up is in the middle of our first "Recycle Your Computer @work Day" for the employees who work at the State of Washington Department of Human Services offices in Vancouver. The morning shift is complete and we'll be headed back shorty for the lunch shift. Big thanks to Empower Up Board President, Leonard Bauhs for both organizing and staffing the event.

Green Drinks 2 Year Anniversary

Just got back from the 2 year celebration of Vancouver Green Drinks. Empower Up donated a sweet P4 desktop computer with LCD monitor (with all the usual accoutrement) for the Grand Door Prize and Mayor Tim Levitt gave a quick talk on what the City of Vancouver is up to on the sustainability front. If you are in a sustainable industry in Vancouver/Clark County, you should check this group out...they meet every last Tuesday of the month at a variety of locations around Vancouver.

Pics from todays E-Waste round-up.

A few downpours...

...lots of Styrofoam...

...and a fun time was had by all.

Intro to GIS - free class Sat. 4/24

Empower Up is happy to announce our first Intro to GIS class this Saturday, April 24 from 11:00am to 12:30pm.

Learn about geographic information systems and how information is used to create computer maps. In addition, we will explore Clark County's Maps Online and the Property Information Center. GIS expert Ken Loveall will cover types of spatial data, map layers and themes, local property information, and how to transfer this information to other databases and online tools. Space is limited.

Cost: free.

E-Waste & HHW Clean-up - Clark College - Apr. 24

Empower Up is helping out Clark County Solid Waste with another HHW & E-waste Round Up. This weeks event is located at Clark College (Parking Lot: Purple 1, off Fort Vancouver Way) Sat. April 24 from 9am to 1pm. Celebrate Earth Day and bring your old electronics and computers for reuse and recycling.

Earth Day!

Happy Birthday John Muir.

John Muir (1838-1914), naturalist, conservationist, and founder of the Sierra Club.

New website is live!

We just finished uploading the new version of our website: www.empowerupnow.org and we just want to say...we love our new name!

E-Waste & HHW Clean-up Event Sat. April 17, 9a-1p, Ridgefield, WA

Empower Up is once again helping out the folks with Clark County Solid Waste and picking up e-waste that is brought to this years HHW (Household Hazardous Waste) clean up on Saturday, April 17 from 9am to 1pm at Ridgefield High School 2630 S Hillhurst Rd.in Ridgefield, WA.

PC Clinic

This months PC Clinic is underway (10am-Noon) in the Education Center (5000 E. 4th Plain, Ste F, Vancouver WA) drop by if you're having PC problems and the fine folks from the Clark College Help Desk will give you a hand.

Electronics Clean-Up Event in Yacolt - Saturday April 10, 2p-4p.

Empower Up will helping helping out the folks with Clark County Solid Waste with another of their HHW (Household Hazardous Waste) collection events. This Saturdays event is in Yacolt, WA at the Yacolt Primary School, 406 West Yacolt Road. The event is from 2pm to 4pm. If this is in your area - tell all your friends to bring their computers and other electronics to help a good cause.

A new lift-gate for Big Blue.

I just got back from picking up our big blue truck from Mount Trailer, where they just completed installing our new 4,000# capacity lift gate. Big thanks again to the Kind Heart, Free Spirit Foundation for funding this upgrade and more big thanks to Mount Trailer for giving us such a generous discount and super-fast turn around. We're now ready for all our electronics clean-up events this spring/summer.

Next on the list is the new fancy wrap signage with our new name/logo on all sides of the big box. I can't wait.

New Name is Official

Our name is now officially Empower Up. Many changes involved in making the transition. Here are some important links to our new sites:

www.empowerupnow.org
facebook.empowerupnow.org
twitter.empowerupnow.org
blog.empowerupnow.org

Official roll out and unveiling of new website on April 19.