Three Lanphier High School students donated and installed a dozen refurbished computers at local social service agencies Thursday.

The students were among five who attended a six-day summer computer camp that taught them to repair computers. At the end of camp, the students were allowed to bring computers they had worked on back home to donate to organizations in need.

The camp, held at Cuivre River State Park in Troy, Mo., was funded by Learn and Serve America, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent federal agency.

Minda Squires, who just started her senior year at Lanphier, said she didn’t know anything about computer repairs before the camp.

Troubleshooting

“I’ve learned to troubleshoot, put together computers, switch out bad parts, wipe hard drives and install new operating systems,” Squires said. “I didn’t know anything before, at all. Actually, when I got home, my house computer did break, and I was able to go ahead and fix that, and switch stuff out.

Squires said she learned about the camp from a computer-programming teacher at school.

“It will save me a lot of money if I can fix my own (computer),” she said.

Squires, along with juniors Levi Lynch and Seth Griffith, brought three computers to the Ronald McDonald House, 610 N. Seventh St., on Thursday afternoon. Squires said she has personal ties to the organization. Ronald McDonald houses provide temporary living quarters for families whose children are being treated at local hospitals.

“For my aunt, Ronald McDonald house was a big part of her life,” Squires said.

Ronald McDonald House was in need of computers for its growing clientele, according to Kelly Thompson, executive director of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois.

“We have a couple of computers that have under a gigabyte of RAM,” Thompson said. “In technology terms, that’s not a whole lot. For them to even be bringing computers that have more than that is wonderful.”

The organization has four computers for staff use and one used by guests. One of the donated computers will go to a staff member; the other two will be for guests.

Long-term guests

Thompson said the local organization serves more than 400 families per year. On any given night, guest numbers range from 12 to 50.

“We’re seeing more and more families that are staying here for longer periods of time,” she said. “That’s also impacting our occupancy, because they have children who are born prematurely. Those families may be here for three to six months instead of our average stay, which is seven to 14 nights.”

The students also donated computers to Sojourn Shelter and Services Inc., 1800 Westchester Boulevard. They intend to provide computers to other local organizations as well.

They probably won’t stop there, according to Deborah Huffman, who leads Learn and Service America initiatives at Lanphier. The students have been encouraged to start their own club, where they would pass on the information they’ve learned to other students and also refurbish and donate more computers locally.

“Our hope is that they would take in computers that were donated and do the same thing,” Huffman said. “This isn’t for sure, but hopefully that can keep going if we can get this club started.”

The other two students who participated in the program were Lindsey Miller, a current Lanphier student, and Zac Dishon, who graduated from Lanphier last spring and is attending college this fall.

Rhys Saunders can be reached at 788-1539.