Thirteen LPA employees recently joined together to refurbish laptops for donation to architecture students at Orange Coast College (OCC), a public community college in Costa Mesa, California.
LPA answered the call for help from the Architecture Department at OCC, whose students have been especially affected by the pandemic. Coordinated through the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Orange County, LPA committed to refurbishing and donating 50 decommissioned LPA laptops.
“It’s important to LPA to help mentor and support the next generation of architecture and engineering professionals,” said Ozzie Tapia, associate at LPA. “The pandemic has hit many college students and their families hard, and LPA is honored to help reduce some of the financial burden.”
LPA volunteers removed outdated batteries, installed new ones, reset the computers to factory settings and installed the necessary software for students’ use. The refurbished computers will be given to students in time for the 2021-2022 school year.
“COVID has been an especially difficult time for our students, and these laptops will make a tremendous difference for them,” said Rose Anne Kings, architecture professor at OCC. “Many currently have either no access to laptops or have laptops that are incapable of running any design programs, so we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to provide so many of them with the technology they need to succeed.”
The LPA Foundation, which was founded in 2015 to support the firm’s charitable giving and volunteer efforts, provided a grant for the computer hardware, parts, batteries, tools and employee volunteer hours. Other recent LPA events supported by the foundation include the packaging of 12,744 meals for the nonprofit Rise Against Hunger and LPA team members helped construct homes for Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build.
