MARFA — AT&T and Human-I-T provided the Chinati Foundation with 50 refurbished laptops and new backpacks stuffed with school supplies Wednesday to distribute to Marfa students.
This distribution is part of a broader AT&T employee effort to help bridge the digital divide and equip 20,000 students across the country with laptops and backpacks before they head back to school. In addition to supplies like notebooks, pencils and headphones, the backpacks included cards of encouragement written by AT&T employees.
In addition, AT&T contributed $20,000 to the Chinati Foundation to support hands-on digital literacy workshops for the Marfa community.
“The Chinati Foundation’s education department presents programs that are, first and foremost, experiential. We are grateful to AT&T for their generosity, which will allow our educators to support Marfa students and adults with hands-on digital literacy workshops,” said Caitlin Murray, director of the Chinati Foundation.
U.S. Census Bureau data indicate almost 2.8 million households and 7 million people in Texas lack broadband access, an issue known as the digital divide. “Lack of digital access puts Marfa students at greater risk of falling behind both educationally and economically,” said State Sen. César Blanco. “Putting a computer in their hands and providing digital literacy training to ensure they get the most out of that device are both critical to their future success. I am grateful to AT&T and the Chinati Foundation for helping us empower and support local Marfa students.”
“For many people, the internet has proven to be truly life-changing, increasing access to education, online health resources, and work-from-home opportunities,” said State Rep. Eddie Morales. “I am grateful to the Chinati Foundation and AT&T for their efforts to improve access and digital literacy in our community.”
This effort is part of the AT&T Connected Learning initiative to help address the digital divide through internet accessibility, affordability and safe adoption. AT&T is committing $5 billion to help 25 million people get and stay connected to high-speed internet by 2030.
“AT&T is proud to collaborate with organizations like Human-I-T and the Chinati Foundation to help close the digital divide in Marfa,” said Carlos Martinez, director of external affairs for AT&T Texas. “Access to computers and digital training are both vital as we work to bridge the digital divide, and we are glad to support digital literacy training in this community and provide these refurbished personal computers to local students.”