Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Nonprofit provides major tech upgrade for Berachah Church
40 technicians come together for $175K pro bono project
CHELTENHAM >> More than 40 technicians from across the United States and Canada joined forces last month to install a $175,000 technology upgrade pro bono at Berachah Church.
The upgrade to the church’s security system and Wi-Fi equipment provided by TeKnowledge World Wide, a nonprofit based in Warminster, will provide “security for the students’ space and us,” as well as enable the church on Ashbourne Road “to minister to the community better,” said Berachah Pastor Wilson Beaver.
The upgrade included 32 security cameras, inside and outside, security card access to exterior and interior doors, new exterior church doors and wireless internet for the entire property — the church, offices and pantry, said Ray Cline, president and cofounder of TeKnowledge World Wide and owner of Libertas Consulting in Warminster.
TeKnowledge, a collective of like-minded individuals in the technology industry who seek to make positive and impactful changes in the community with philanthropy, chose Berachah for this year’s project after Nick and Evann Rodgers, church elders and owners of Moss Mill Brewing in Huntingdon Valley, a client of Libertas, asked Cline to provide an estimate to the church for the work.
The church said “there’s no way we can afford this,” Cline said, so he said he would “talk to the community and see if they were willing to provide these products and services.”
“The community said absolutely,” and planning began in April to get partners and vendors, he said.
The church “probably would not have been able to do the upgrade until 10 years from now,” Beaver said.
It will enable the biblically centered, intergenerational, multicultural congregation serving Cheltenham and Northeast Philadelphia “to provide ministry up-todate with the 21st century” as well as update the food pantry serving hundreds of families in Philadelphia and Montgomery County, he said.
In addition to 10:30 a.m.
Sunday services, Berachah has a mid-week Community Bible Study attended by about 150 to 200 moms with their children, sponsors a monthly block party, held summer activities in two parks and hosts numerous programs for students, Beaver said.
“We want people to feel welcome and want families to know when they drop off kids that the kids are safe and cared for,” he said. “This provides that extra measure of care.
“Kids are here constantly for different programs.”
Cable & Connections in South Carolina and Vertical Cable in Florida donated the bulk of the technology upgrades and “42 technicians came onsite from across the country and Canada to install the technology for the church,” Cline said, estimating planning and installation took more than 1,000 hours.
Installation began the morning of Sept. 21 and was completed late night
Sept. 26, Cline said.
In addition to the donated equipment and labor, TeKnowledge raised $27,000 on Pledge IT to help cover costs not able to be donated, the fundraising site says.
It was the third project done with other organizations, but “our first as TeKnowledge,” which was founded by four business owners in 2021, Cline said.
“We had 40 business owners in the same room who came up with a creative solution without ego,” he said. “Our saying is ‘community over competition.’ We’re all in the same business but come together to support each other.
“Local businesses that worked with me are my competitors, but we worked together because that’s who we are.”
“We were greatly pleased with TeKnowledge and their care for our church and its members,” Beaver said. “I can’t say enough good things about them.”