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.