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Laptops For The Wounded Bleg
Posted by Kim on March 24th, 2007
Sometimes small efforts need a little help to GO BIG.
Laura Brown, a mother with a son who fought in the Iraq war, is trying to improve conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center — one laptop computer at a time.
The 50-year-old from Cody, Wyo., was chatting on the Internet with the mother of a wounded soldier two years ago when the mother mentioned she had to print out her son’s e-mails and take them to him at Walter Reed because there weren’t enough laptop computers to go around.
Brown, whose own son had recently returned safely from the war, thought the solution to that problem seemed incredibly easy.
“It just kind of hit me,” she said. “If one person needed one, then there’s others. … I mean, my son had e-mail in Iraq. I was really stunned.”
So Brown formed a group, Laptops for the Wounded, to raise money for the cause.
I had not heard of this group until I read about them. So I went and donated and decided to write a post here about it. And I’m asking everyone who reads this to PLEASE assist with this. Either donate some money, or write a post to help spread the word about this wonderful effort.
Since its fundraising effort began in November 2005, Brown’s organization has donated 27 computers to military hospitals around the country — 24 of them to Walter Reed.
On Friday, Brown flew to Washington to deliver 10 donated laptops to the hospital in person.
Those computers, which were upgraded and refitted with new equipment, included Web cameras so soldiers could lay eyes on their families from afar.
“She basically just made it her mission,” said Lisa Ramdass, a case manager at the hospital who has been working with Brown to coordinate the donations.
Ramdass said the laptops are used for more than e-mail. One soldier who worked with a donated laptop couldn’t speak, and was able to communicate with his family and his doctors by typing on the computer. Others who have eye injuries use the laptops to watch movies or television up close.
Let’s help Mrs. Brown raise enough cash to buy a lot more than 27 laptops. Come on! We have some work to do here with this.
March 25th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
This is not to take away from Project Valour-IT- I want readers to know.
Every effort to support our troops is worthy of mention here, and there is plenty of room for everyone who wishes to do that, to DO JUST that.
March 27th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
I would like to thank all that have read this and has donated or is going to donate either funds or laptops in order for the organization to rebuild and donate laptops. We delivered 10 laptops a few days ago, and we hope to add two zeros to that number to deliver to our troops in all the hospitals sooner, rather than later.
God Bless America and our troops who keep us free!!
Phil Drouin
Laptops for the Wounded
IT Rebuilder
ex-USAF C-130 Crew Chief.
March 27th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Your welcome Phil. I will assist in any way I can with your project. Just let me know.