Representatives from The AT&T Foundation were at the Boys & Girls Club of Manitowoc County Wednesday to present them a $10,000 Foundation Grant to support their “Project Learn” Program.
This initiative will help local youth with limited internet access achieve their full potential.
Executive Director Bill Bertsche says he’s thankful that children will have the help necessary to access high-speed internet and computer software programs to help them with homework this coming school year.
“All those resources are very expensive, and I think people would be shocked to know the number of families that don’t have any of those resources in their households,” Bertsche explained. “So we really feel that we are going to be filling a big need by providing these resources for our families and our youth here at the club.”
Robin Grunner is the Director of External Affairs for The AT&T Foundation. She says these grants are aimed at shrinking the so-called “digital divide” among our nation’s youth.
“It’s not just having a computer. It’s having the skills in order to utilize the tools that are available to you,” she said. “The project Learn program is not only going to give the students here the access to the hardware, the computers, and the tablets, but it’s also going to give them access to training and software, and skill development so they can actually use those tools that are available to them.”
The President of AT&T Wisconsin Paul Wertz adds “AT&T is proud to support the Boys and Girls Club of Manitowoc County as they work to provide solutions to those challenges and increase academic success for our students in need.”