Free Geek
in Portland, United StatesCategory: Attraction
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Artspace in Portland, OR, USA, 1711 SE 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97214, USA Print route »
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Free Geek was founded as a non-profit organization by Oso Martin, and launched on Earth Day 2000 as part of a community-wide public event at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland, Oregon. In September of that year Free Geek opened the doors to their facility on Southeast 10th Avenue as a recycling/reuse dropoff for electronic waste. In January 2001, The Oregonian ran an article advertising their free computer program for volunteers, which immediately became so successful that they had to start a waiting list. They currently have over 2,000 active volunteers per year.Over the past 17 years, Free Geek has expanded to fill its 22,000 square-foot home and grown into a community education hub, adding classes, internships, outreach programs, and free technology to low-income individuals and nonprofits to their ongoing commitment to sustainable reuse and recycling. Since their founding, they have:Diverted over 1.3 million items from landfills.
Received over 900,000 hours of volunteer experience from 35,000 individuals.
Granted over 72,620 technology devices to nonprofits, schools, community change organizations, and individuals, including over 10,000 computers to volunteers and students in exchange for community service.
