THE FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER  Sunday, September 16, 2007

By: Michael Futch, Staff writer

Stay-at-home mother Christina Zepp home schools her children. She and her husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jason Zepp, have five, ranging in age from 1 to 12.

On Saturday morning, Christina and four of her children headed to Fort Bragg from their Parkton home to pick up a computer. Only Chloe was missing.

“She’s at dance class,” her mother said.

In all, 255 families of enlisted men and women stationed on Fort Bragg and serving abroad received refurbished computer systems on Saturday inside the cafeteria of Albritton Junior High School.

They were also being fed some basic computer skills through this Give-A-Thon program.

And the 31-year-old matriarch of the Zepp family was grateful for the charitable handout, which will add a second link to the once-named Information Highway from her home.

“I wouldn’t be able to get another computer like this — to have a computer designated strictly for school,” she said, as she filled out a form on a cafeteria dining table.

The kids by her side had little to say, though 6-year-old Mya’s face beamed like a turned-on computer display.

“With a computer being used for everything that they are taught,” Mrs. Zepp said, “they need the knowledge to go out in the world and use a computer.”

The Durham-based nonprofit Kramden Institute spearheaded the Give-A-Thon for qualifying families along with a little help from their friends. Lenovo, an international technology company and a sponsor of the 2008 Olympic Games, and Sprint donated the computer systems.

Pine Forest High School Student Kevin Freeman helps Deb Spaulding load a computer into her car during a giveaway at Albritton Middle School Saturday.

Gia Esguerra, 8, right, and her sisters, Mia, 4, and Jade, 9, play on their new computer during a giveaway Saturday at Albritton Middle School.

Staff photos by David Smith
 

In late July, more than 100 volunteers from the Triangle area refurbished the computers at Kramden Institute’s 10th annual “Geek-A-Thon” in Morrisville. Four Fort Bragg families received computers at that time, according to an 18th Airborne Corps news release.

In February, Kramden Institute doled out 93 rebuilt computers to folks in nearby Roseboro.

Overall, about 1,200 computers have been placed in new hands since Mark Dibner and his son, Ned, founded the institute four years ago in their Durham home.

“We’re trying to be the Habitat for Humanity for computers,” said Mark Dibner, a 55-year-old Research Triangle Park businessman. “My dream is to take the local Research Triangle Park nonprofit process to communities around the country — put the pieces together and help the country. If we can do over 1,000, any community can do 1,000.”

In order to qualify for a computer:

 The less-advantaged student must be hardworking in school.
 The student’s family does not have a computer at home.

Rules were eased a little for Fort Bragg, Dibner said, as some families already had a working computer.

The computers are distributed to students, but the idea behind the program is for the entire family to put them to good use. On site, the adults were trained on how to use the computers and some of their programs.

Volunteer Victoria Stamper said one child in particular made her feel good about what they were doing: “This little girl came through singing. I said, ‘Why are you so happy?’ And she was saying, ‘I’m getting a computer.’”

Chris and Hazel Esguerra and their family were picking up one, too.

In fact, their 4-year-old, Mia, wouldn’t let go of the thing so that it could be placed on a cart and rolled outside to their vehicle in the parking lot.

“It’s for them,” Chris Esguerra said, while rubbing Mia’s head. He’s a sergeant with the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg.

Henry Berry, another volunteer, was pushing a four-wheeled cart through the cafeteria as he sang, “Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning.”

“Have you ever seen somebody get something for free?” he said. “They’re happy. The kids are happy.”

Staff writer Michael Futch can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 486-3529.