17.11.2020 - What we do for Switzerland

Last Saturday, our 1000th laptop crossed the table. What we do changes Switzerland - and certainly the fate of many who may benefit from our work. We inform about the past weeks.

Over 1,000 units distributed!

After a short Corona suspicion in the team, we were now already able to realise two distribution windows in November. This time, however, the picture was a little different than in September. So we created a protection concept and invited the pick-ups in a staggered manner. Everything so that we protect ourselves and of course the other people as well.  

On 14 November, they even looked very closely at how many units were distributed. The background: We had already reached over 900 units before this distribution campaign. With the number of invited collectors, Tobias was pretty sure from the beginning that the big limit could be cracked. 

And suddenly the time had come! Shortly before 4:30 pm, the time had come. The laptop was even picked up by a Merenschwander, where the association is also based. Ruth picked up a device for a friend who had not had the chance to visit us last Saturday. We left this great moment (and milestone) to ourselves - a small bottle of champagne was popped and a celebratory toast was made.

(from left to right) Tobi, Ruth and Benj toasting the 1,000th laptop together.

After that, however, things continued at a brisk pace. There were still a few more laptops to distribute, because on 14 November, what was probably the last distribution window for this year took place. We stayed tight and continued to hand out equipment until about 5:30 pm. After that, we only hand them out by appointment - for the most urgent requests.

Partner communities

Our project is apparently very simple: we collect laptops, process them and distribute them to those in need - you already know that much if you have been following us for a while. But there is a lot more going on around it. Since the beginning of October, we have been canvassing partner communities, regions and even entire cantons so that we can help those who really need help.  

Armed with a basic contract, general terms and conditions and our association statutes, Tobias has been picking up the phone even more than he already does for a few weeks now. The reason is simple: one of our biggest challenges is to find the right people who need our help. Social services and other public organisations usually know who needs help or where a laptop makes a big difference. 

We now have more than 100 municipalities in our partner area where our service is available. We have also been able to send a large number of units to these same regions. Here is a brief overview of the current situation.

Our partner areas (as of 18.11.2020)

The picture shows who is already with us (green) and who is currently evaluating a collaboration with us (yellow). You can also go directly to the map - it is publicly accessible.

The cooperation with communal, regional and cantonal social services is important to us - not only because of the professionalisation in the field of enquiries, but also because it enables us to reach regions that are too far away from us. All enquiries that go through such partners are also remunerated with a contribution towards expenses. This helps us to cover our fixed costs and also to carry on our mission.

Currently, we already cover over 100 communities in Switzerland with our partner area. This number is growing almost daily. Here are a few words from Dave Jäggi, who has been one of our satisfied partners for several weeks:

Voice of a partner
In accompanying and supporting refugees and people looking for a job, we were repeatedly faced with the challenge that hardly anyone can afford a laptop. However, such a device is absolutely necessary, especially for the job search. Corona has made the situation even worse, especially for single parents with school-age children. The purchase of a laptop is also indispensable for home schooling in this situation, but hardly affordable. 
We are very grateful that Tobias Schär with wLw saw and tackled this challenge at the right time! Thanks to the cooperation with the municipal social services and wLw, we as a social services agency can now provide uncomplicated help and order a functioning laptop for people in difficult financial circumstances with very little effort. The support from wLw is personal and without unnecessary hurdles. This has created a win-win situation for everyone involved. 
It's great that there are people like Tobias and his crew who are volunteering to narrow the gap in digital education. 
- Dave Jäggi, Pastor & Project Manager Social Office venue Diessenhofen

We look forward to all further partnerships and refer directly to the corresponding information page at this point:

Re-design of the website and processes

We have noticed that not all of our visitors can get to the information that is relevant to them in just a few steps. Therefore, we decided to make the website a little more appealing, to streamline it and to add where it became necessary.

We have added an information page where you can navigate directly to the area you are interested in. Click here to go to the corresponding page:

As we have also received many questions about equipment donations, we have now embedded the most important information directly on the website. We hope that this will help all those for whom the pages were a bit overloaded.

A lot has also happened in our process landscape in the last few weeks. We have tried to standardise the communication flow with further automations and have also added new fields to the help requests. The goal of all this is to better categorise and process help requests. But only time will tell if the new approach really corresponds to what we hope for. 

Where do we go from here?

Yes, we ask ourselves that too, of course. One thing is for sure: the fun has only just begun! The fact that we were able to collect, process and distribute so many units in just 7.5 months surprised even us. We will make the best possible use of the short breather until the new year. We have also grown in terms of personnel. As of today, we already have nine volunteers working for a good cause. The board will meet in the coming weeks to discuss strategy. We will then probably report back with an update, and soon afterwards with our annual report.

We wish you all the best until the next update. And don't forget: You too can help by telling others about our initiative. You can inform:

• People who need help.
• Companies and people who have laptops.
• communities that could benefit from our service.

We thank you for actively sharing our messages and of course our website, which remains our main point of contact.

- Tobias Schär

Tobias Schär