November 14, 2002 | Read Time: 2 minutes
PowerUp, a nonprofit group established in 1999 by corporations, private grant makers, and charities to increase needy youngsters’ access to technology, shut its doors last month.
Board members and benefactors made the decision after concluding that the organization’s mission had been fulfilled, said Denise Keyes, a PowerUp spokeswoman.
“By no means are we saying the digital divide is closed,” Ms. Keyes said. But “the innovative solutions that were developed three years ago may not be the same solutions that are needed right now.”
She added that the lean economic times have forced supporters of PowerUp to reduce their overall grant making, which was a factor in the decision to end the nonprofit group.
PowerUp, in McLean, Va., started with much fanfare — and with a $10-million gift from the Stephen Case Foundation and in-kind contributions from the AOL Foundation (now the AOL Time Warner Foundation) and the Waitt Family Foundation.
Ms. Keyes estimated that PowerUp gave more than $50-million in cash and in-kind contributions to help create 957 community technology centers nationwide.
Most of these centers are located in local affiliates of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, YMCA of the USA, and the National Urban League.
Though these groups say the loss of PowerUp is significant to their efforts, they say they understood it was never meant to provide continuing support.
“There was never the impression that this was a permanent resource that would live forever,” said Milton J. Little, executive vice president of the National Urban League, which operates about 60 technology centers that were affiliated with PowerUp.
Short Notice
However, Mr. Little said he would have liked to have had more warning about PowerUp’s demise. PowerUp told his organization about the decision to close two months ago, he said.
Some of PowerUp’s backers plan to continue to help the technology centers.
The Case Foundation will continue to donate to at least eight centers, and the AOL Time Warner Foundation will continue to provide about 35,000 free AOL Internet accounts.
PowerUp also is giving the centers CD-ROMs with information about other sources of support, and the Community Technology Centers’ Network is offering PowerUp centers free membership.
