On October 5th, Mr. K's joined Hawai`i Community College (HCC) and Hawai`i First Federal Credit Union's Community Resource Center at the Fall 2023 Kickoff and Orientation  of IT Reuse Hawai`i.
     IT Reuse Hawai`i brings together HCC IT students to refurbish functioning computers donated by organizations and Mr. K's, to be distributed to low-income individuals and families to achieve their life goals through programs such as Hawai`i First's Pathways Financial Coaching and Financial Empowerment Services.
     IT Reuse Hawai`i also partners with PCs for People, based in Minneapolis, MN, to provide data sanitization and authorized installation of Windows OS and Office 2019. Mr. K's provides responsible, R2/e-Stewards-certified recycling of any devices or components that can't be reused.
     "Mr. K's made our initial pilot last year successful by donating functioning computers that were already wiped of data," said Michele Mitsumori, project coordinator for IT Reuse Hawai`i. "This not only extends the life of valuable assets, but also supports local individuals and families. We appreciate the partnership of Roy, Evan, Dale and the team at Mr. K's!"

From the Hawai`i Broadband and Digital Equity Office:
     With the draft of the Hawai`i Digital Equity Plan now complete, Hawai`i residents are invited to provide their mana`o (thoughts) on the plan and recommendations during a 30-day Public Comment Period, which runs from Oct 2 - 31, 2023.  You can share your thoughts through this brief online form.
     "Digital equity" means that all Hawai`i's residents, keiki to kūpuna, have the information technology capacity -- devices, high-speed internet access, digital skills and technical support -- needed to participate fully in our society, democracy and economy, including civics, social and cultural activities, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services.
     The Digital Equity Plan was created to provide a roadmap for achieving digital equity for the nine "covered populations" which are:

• covered households (income below 150% of the poverty threshold)
• kūpuna (aged 60 years or older)
• incarcerated individuals (other than those in a Federal correctional facility)
• veterans
• individuals with disabilites
• individuals with a language barrier (including English language learners and those with low literacy)
• racial or ethnic minorities
• rural residents
• Native Hawaiians

 Read a summary of the strategies (see image below) and objectives here, and the full plan here. Share your mana`o  here .

     How does this relate to Mr. K's? One way is ensuring that electronic  devices and other equipment can be responsibly and accessibly disposed of, including through reuse and recycling. This can be done through Strategy 8, which prioritizes funding and investment policies such as recent e-waste legislation (Act 151), which provides Hawai`i with e-waste recycling at no cost.