Pc4u.tech, four friends' idea to donate PCs and tablets

Since they started the project Pc4u.tech, Matteo Mainetti, Jacopo Rangone, Emanuele Sacco e Peter Cappellini they managed to donate more than 1200 devices, supporting those who are unable to purchase a computer or tablet to allow their children to study during distance learning. During the most acute phase of the contagion, the distance teaching It has allowed the school system to function and continue its educational offerings. Between one online lesson and the next, however, the challenges arose due to the lack, in many families, of technological tools that would allow children and adolescents to continue their studies while remaining at home. Not to mention that during the lockdown and afterward, not all students had the same access to the internet to continue their lessons and take tests. So, the four 18-year-old friends from Milan had a brilliant idea to try to solve this problem, at least in their city and the surrounding area: creating a a web platform to donate an electronic device to those who cannot afford itPc4u.tech connects students in need of a tablet or PC with individuals or companies wishing to donate their used but still-good technology devices. This is an important solution for bridging the digital divide, preventing the waste of still-functioning but rarely used devices due to new purchases, and reducing waste. The platform is very simple and quick to use. Jacopo, Matteo, Emanuele, and Pietro personally collect the devices from the homes of those wishing to donate them. With the help of a technician, PCs and tablets are reconditioned and then delivered to students who requested them through the platform. The project is currently limited to the city of Milan and its surrounding areas: the four friends pick up and deliver the PCs by motorbike, bicycle, or public transportation.

The initiative to help students in difficulty

An important project that we hope will soon be extended to many other Italian cities and for which Matteo Mainetti, Jacopo Rangone, Emanuele Sacco and Pietro Cappellini, during the month of April 2021, received recognition from the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella: a plaque for collective actions, for their altruism and deep sense of responsibility demonstrated during this health emergency and for having provided, through Pc4u.Tech, a valuable contribution to reducing the digital divide between those who have access to the Internet and those who cannot.

(Cover image: Pc4u.tech)

Read also:

• Lawyers, doctors, surveyors: these are the professionals who help the poor by donating their labor (photos)
• In Stockholm, a "social supermarket" to help people in difficulty
• The story of Guido, the Roman pensioner who repairs toys. For poor children.

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