The Gift of Dignity: Marginalized Edmontonians Receive Truckload of Donated Tech

    EDMONTON, AB, April 16, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On April 21st the Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) will deliver a donation of 30 computers to Boyle Street Community Services (Boyle Street) that will be distributed among the most vulnerable community members accessing Boyle Street's services. Edmonton Centre's MLA, David Shepherd, will attend and co-present the donation to Boyle Street.

"This donation is a great opportunity to draw some attention to poverty and homelessness in Edmonton" says Bojan Paduh, founder and president of ERA. "We want to do what we can to help, and donating computers is what we do. We hope this donation will generate goodwill from other organizations and the public to step up and give back in whatever ways they can."

Boyle Street is a non-profit agency which assists individuals and families challenged by homelessness and poverty. Their daily clients are all, without exception, extremely poor, and many of them are marginalized because of their ethnicity and their poverty. The computers will be provided to housed community members accessing Boyle Street's programs.

"We're extremely grateful to ERA for this very generous donation. The computers will mean so much to our clients: they will help them with so many things which we in the larger community take for granted" says Boyle Street's executive director, Julian Daly. "They will be able to develop closer contact with family members who may be in other parts of Canada or, indeed, other parts of the world and also use the computer as a tool to support them in many other ways."

"I greatly appreciate ERA's commitment to reuse over recycling of electronics, both for its diversion and reduction of toxic e-waste and the benefit it provides to important community organizations like Boyle Street Community Services" says David Shepherd, who both resides in and represents Boyle Street's constituency.

Media representatives are invited to attend and cover this donation story as ERA and David Shepherd present Boyle Street with 30 computers.

Date: Thursday, April 21st 2016

Time: 11:00 AM

Location: Boyle Street
10116-105 Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta, T5H 0K2

Attendees: David Shepherd, MLA, Edmonton Centre
Julian Daly, Executive Director, Boyle Street
Kristi Gartner, Marketing and Communications Manager, ERA

About the Electronic Recycling Association
The Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 to address the growing problem of e-waste and the increasing 'digital divide'. For over ten years, ERA has offered simple solutions to help individuals and organizations prevent operational equipment from premature destruction. With a focus on recovery, refurbishment and reuse, ERA continuously supplies charitable groups with donated IT equipment while securely managing the retiring IT assets of organizations and individuals across Canada. By partnering with certified e-waste recyclers, ERA ensures unwanted hardware never ends up in landfills, even when it offers no further use.

About Boyle Street Community Services
Boyle Street Community Services Boyle Street Community Services is a non-profit Edmonton agency which assists individuals and families challenged by homelessness and poverty. First established in 1971 as a small storefront operation, the agency has grown to meet the needs of its client community, and now each year more than 12,000 people - more than 70 per cent of whom are of Aboriginal descent - access the wide range of supports and services which are available.

Media enquiries may be directed to:

Kristi Gartner
Marketing and Communications Manager
Electronic Recycling Association
Phone: 403-262-4488
[email protected]

Lance Beswick
Communications Manager
Boyle Street Community Services
Phone: 780-424-4106, ext.219
[email protected]

Claire MacDonald
Constituency Manager
David Shepherd, MLA Edmonton-Centre
Phone: 780-414-0743
[email protected]

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