With the St. Jude Thanks and Giving® campaign underway now at Best Buy, the company continues its partnership in helping St. Jude find cures for children fighting cancer by accepting donations at more than 1,400 Best Buy store locations and on BestBuy.com.
Community Relations
The goal was bridging the digital gap for families, but the theme was empowerment at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles on Sept. 19.
Several families, with help from Best Buy employees, were trained on basic computer skills and went home with something they didn’t have before – Internet connectivity and a computer.
Best Buy partnered with OurCycle LA, a City of Los Angeles digital inclusion pilot program geared at providing free refurbished computers and training to low-income families in Los Angeles.
Best Buy recently joined forces with two nonprofits in Washington, D.C., to help older adults connect with technology — often for the very first time — with teen mentors by their side.
The company, along with Cyber-Seniors and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, brought together 30 teens and 23 seniors at the Best Buy Teen Tech Center. The event included a reception and demonstrations led by Best Buy and Geek Squad trainers. Several other employees from area stores volunteered to help out, too, as the event happened during the Best Buy Week of Service.
Best Buy Foundation Ignites Teen Potential through Technology
For decades people have turned to Best Buy for answers to their technology questions. As a company, our mission is to ignite human potential. One of the ways we do this is by supporting technology programs that bridge the digital divide by helping underserved teens build 21st century skills to prepare for college and careers.
As experts in technology, our goal is to leverage our knowledge, resources and talented Best Buy and Geek Squad employees to empower underserved youth and help prepare them for the future.
Even as the promise of the connected home becomes reality for many of us, millions of Americans still have limited access to the high-speed broadband service that opens the door to opportunity. To help bridge this digital divide, Best Buy will offer the expertise of its talented employees and community outreach programs in a new ConnectHome initiative announced today by President Obama and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro.
The pilot program is launching in 27 cities and one tribal nation to initially reach more than 275,000 low-income households and nearly 200,000 children with the support they need to access the Internet at home.
Best Buy supports better futures for teens:
The need for youth to be tech-savvy and develop the 21st-century skills to set them up for future career success is more important than ever. Yet too many teens have little or no access to technology and as a result, they fall behind their peers.
At Best Buy, we’re on a mission to provide teens with opportunities where they can develop technology skills that will inspire future education and career choices.
If learning robotics, making music and writing code sound more fun than swatting mosquitoes and singing around a fire, the camps offered by Geek Squad Academy (GSA) are where to be this summer.
No sleeping bags are required at Best Buy’s GSA camps, but students do need to pack curiosity and creativity. With hands-on access to computers, tablets, and other techy gadgets, they’re joining the more than 20,000 past attendees in learning new skills, gaining confidence and getting a head start on their futures.
Creating a customized smartphone app is not something every kid can say they’ve done.
But with the help of dedicated Best Buy employee volunteers, students are getting excited about creating their own apps using the invention kit MakeyMakey.
The app workshops are part of Best Buy-sponsored events happening nationwide this year. Teens get the chance to brainstorm an app prototype, work with the latest technology and create a stop-motion video.
Best Buy’s Community Relations team has partnered with the nonprofit Break A Difference to design several large volunteer events for employees throughout the United States.
A 12-year-old aspiring inventor created a desk fan for his mom with parts from a broken PC and a cardboard box. Adding a single-throw switch, and wires for the circuit, the fan came alive. Beaming with pride, the boy started his own fan project with a completed prototype and has plans to design a custom enclosure using a 3D printer and a program called Tinkercad.
Believe it or not, he brainstormed and executed his fan project within the walls of the Best Buy Teen Tech Center in Minneapolis.