Christmas Computers 4 Kids

On December 20th, 2008, CMG partnered with the "100 Black Men of Tampa" organization for its "Christmas Computer 4 Kids" giveaway. There were 65 computers loaded with the latest Microsoft software given to the youth mentored by the 100 Black Men group.

Also, 20 computers were given to families selected by the "Belmont Heights Civic Association."

Mom and sons checking in.

Tymecka & Raymond man check-in table.

Grateful recipients.

This annual event, plus the "Back to School Computer Giveaway," highlights Computer Mentors' effort to supply needy families with the latest computer hardware and software.

CMG Shows Appreciation to 2008 Volunteers & Employees

Computer Mentors Group held its 2008 Volunteer Appreciation event at the AMF Bowling Center on Florida Avenue in Tampa. The attendees were volunteers, board members and CMG employees. Free bowling and refreshments were enjoyed by all. Midway through the four hour event, the volunteer awards were presented.

The "2008 Volunteer of the Year" was won by Camille Williams for her development of the Pinellas Computer Mentors organization. Two teen IC3 groups are now attending sessions in the Pinellas location. Ms. Williams' startup will be a model for future CMG expansion. Honorable mention went to Dave Applebaum (Tech Bowl administrative software development), Bob Degunther (performs Access support every Monday), and John Harrell (CMG newsletter support).

This year's winner for "Board Member of the Year" is Dana Jenkins, president of D & K Consulting. Besides being a very active board member, Dana conducted the Certified Technical Trainer (CTT) classes for all CMG trainers. These classes were held one Saturday per month for entire 2008 year. This certification program could not have been offered without Dana's volunteer effort. Honorable mention went to board members, Juan Davis, owner Fast Lane Clothing, and David Omlor owner Interface Network Systems. Mr. Davis served as chairman and treasurer of the Hillsborough CMG board. Mr. Omlor is the Pinellas CMG board chairman, Hillsborough board member, and a continuing Tech Bowl sponsor.

These three board members spent countless hours outside of board meetings advising CMG management on its financial's and program direction.

The "2008 Employee of the Year" is John Corsell. "He didn't do a darn thing according to my interview with him." Honorable mention went to Meghan Fish-Stuhl and Regina Nelson. They developed a summer middle-school Pre-A+ certification curriculum. They had a very successful program implementation at Greco middle school last summer.

Please join us in congratulation this group of winners for their efforts in advancing the mission of the Computer Mentors Group.

From the Director

Hello everyone. As this is our first newsletter of 2009, please allow me a belated Happy New Year!

We are very encouraged by the results of 2008 and looking forward to more great results in 2009. We set all kinds of records in 2008 including providing 2141 hours of computer to 602 recipients. This training was directed to mostly “at risk” youth and low-income adults and children. Along with the instruction we also provided 413 computers through our various programs.

And of course, this could not have happen without also receiving record support. Last year we received the largest single grant in the history of the organization when we won the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Award. The award included a grant of $200,000 to be provided over two years, along with leadership training for executive team. We also received the largest donation of computers that we had ever received when we received 1000 Pentium 4 computers from Hostway Corporation. The combination of these grants turned 2008 into a positive year of increased revenue that we were able to translate into increased service to the community.

2009 also holds great promise for CMG. We have our curriculum up and running on the web and available to the public. We are hosting our first annual golf tournament on March 19th (for info see upcoming events on our website). The tournament proceeds will be used to train and send a group of teens to the Black Data Processing Associates national convention in Charlotte North Carolina, where they will compete in the technology high school competition against other teens from across the United States. Excess proceeds from this event will be used to provide technology employment internships for remaining students.

Thank you all for your continued support. Thank you all who gave volunteer hours, donated equipment, donated income, recruited students for us, put in a good word for us, sent kind words to us, and encouraged us. All have played a significant role in the fact that this organization has survived and prospered for 11, going on 12 years now. Thank you. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Sincerely,

Email: rsmith@computermentors.org
Phone: (813) 236-1191