‘Best day ever.’ Summer campers at local Boys & Girls Club receive new laptops
Around 60 children who attended summer camp at the Al Davies Boys & Girls Club on Wednesday did not expect to come home with a brand new Chromebook laptop.
Addy Harley and her sister, Izzy Harley, have been members of the Boys & Girls Club since last year. They said they plan to do a test run on their laptops when they get home. To Izzy, Wednesday is the “best day ever.”
The Harley siblings are two of the handful of children that were a part of Comcast and Team Wrk’s surprise giveaway. Team Wrk is a nonprofit organization that aims to challenge children to live up to their full potential through online gaming.
The surprise giveaway includes a total of 100 laptops, said Carla Carrell, senior director of external affairs for Comcast Washington. The 60 laptops that were disbursed have six months of free internet service. The remaining 40 will go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound.
Comcast also donated an additional $10,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound, said Sierra Raynor, regional manager for the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound. Funds will go to the club’s technology program.
Marcel Cunningham, who is also known as BasicallyIDoWrk on YouTube, is the founder of Team Wrk. He started the nonprofit organization two years ago with his mom’s help.
Marcel Cunningham said Team Wrk brings gaming setups to community centers like the Al Davies Boys & Girls Club to teach kids how to navigate the online gaming world and apply those skills to real-life situations.
Team Wrk creates inclusive spaces for children and helps them learn skills like responsible gaming habits and bullying prevention strategies, Cunningham’s mom, Lonnetta Cunningham, said.
As a former Al Davies Boys & Girls Club member himself, Marcel Cunningham said it is gratifying to give back to his community. He was born and raised in Tacoma, and the Al Davies branch once was his go-to when he was a child.
“It’s super awesome that we get to give away these cool things to these kids,” Marcel Cunningham said.
Raynor said she was the branch manager at the Al Davies Boys & Girls Club when Marcel Cunningham was still a member. Marcel’s grandmother — who volunteered at the club — was also instrumental and made sure no child felt left out, she said.
“This is kind of where Marcel gets that gift of giving back,” Raynor said. “He learned it from his grandmother, and then he also learned it through the Boys & Girls Club.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic putting a halt to in-person learning last year, access to technology became a necessity, Raynor said. The laptop giveaway is a huge gift and will help “level the playing field” for children, she said.
“We just don’t know what’s going to happen with COVID,” Raynor said. “If they go back to remote learning, at least they’ll have the tools … it’s a game-changer for our families.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 5:41 PM.
