Laptop gift for disadvantaged kids
A NEW program launched in Townsville is providing high school students with the tools some people take for granted.
Not-for-profit Townsville based charity Litehaus International presented the first 10 students with their own refurbished laptops last Thursday as part of its Digital Leaders Program.
The program is designed to help 30 disadvantaged children by providing products to enhance their education.
The additional 20 laptops will be presented to high school children throughout North Queensland extending from Mackay to Thursday Island.
Applicants were invited to apply for the program in October last year.
Students were asked to detail their lives and any adversities they were facing and what their future aspirations and achievements in life were.
Litehaus International founder Jack Growden said the inaugural presentation in Townsville had been two and a half years in the making.
“Just this year we got funding from Ergon Energy so we have been able to launch this program,” he said.
“We realised there was a need here and we needed a local footprint considering what we were taking from the local community.” Year 10 William Ross State High School student Malcolm Monty was delighted.
“Owning a laptop (will) help me to perform at my highest academic level, bettering my opportunities in future studies and entering the workforce,” he said. “My future aspirations are to … pursue a career in medicine.”