PCs for People are partners in the Blandin Foundation’s Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) project. They refurbish donated computers and give them to folks (usually families) who would not otherwise be able to get a computer. The project has been a great success in many communities – and the International Falls Journal reports that this successful recipe has cooked up a great deal for folks at Rainy River Community College – with an added spice.

KOOTASCA Community Action and Rainy River Community College have been spearheading the effort in International Falls – and they have worked with a local provider to bundle the new computer with 10 months of Midcontinent broadband Internet service to low-income families. Here’s a quick take on how it’s working in the community…

KOOTASCA is distributing 30 refurbished computers and 10 months of Midcontinent broadband Internet service to low-income families. The organization is encouraging any other members in the community who need computers to apply for a low-cost or free refurbished computer, which KOOTASCA may be able to obtain from “PCs for People.” KOOTASCA two weeks ago became an affiliate of PCs for People, a St. Paul-based non-profit organization that distributes refurbished computers for $30 to $50.

At the college, 10 new laptops were distributed to qualified students. Hardy is still taking applications for the 15 free Internet accounts from low-income students. Midcontinent is providing the Internet to the college and KOOTASCA at a discounted rate.

And a quick note on the impact…

“It’s making a difference in International Falls,” said Hardy, who is also the college’s director of the TRIO Student Support Services, which serves non-traditional and under represented students. “I really see it.”

An interesting side note – and a detail that folks in metro areas might not consider. The deal has been working really well when the new computer owners live in broadband range – but there is a clear cutoff for folks in International Falls that is now separating the tech haves and have-nots…

One challenge that was found during the program is that broadband access ends around County Road 332, the truck route, according to Amy Mortenson, KOOTASCA support specialist.

“That’s a barrier for people who live past the truck route — people in Littlefork, Loman, Northome and Birchdale,” she said. “So they wouldn’t be able to participate in the broadband Internet part of it, but we’re hoping to get them computers at least to break down the barrier that way.”