IRS Donates Computers to Lower West Side
Eric Ortner
West Side Times
Zane Rivera and Debbie Reyes inspect the new equipment donated to the Learn & Play Program from the IRS. Photo: Eric Ortner
Children in the community now have access to more computers. Buffalo West Even Start's Learn & Play Group is the new owner of six computers donated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The computers were installed at The Belle Center, located at 104 Maryland Street, on Wednesday, May 3, 2000.
Even Start's Learn & Play Group is a free Early Education program for children ages 3-5 years old. The program offers two half day sessions that meet Monday through Friday. The first session meets from 9:15 to 12:15, while the second meets from 12:30 - 3:30. Children get to take part in special programs and field trips as well as indoor and outdoor activities.
The Learn & Play Group is intended to help get the youngsters ready for Kindergarten. The qualified staff teaches the children letters and numbers, as well as color recognition.
Debbie Reyes is the Early Childhood Education Specialist at the Belle Center. She further explained, "There's a lot of free play to get the kids to learn how to socialize. That's especially important with all the diversity."
Computers are an important teaching aide for these classes. That is what helps make the IRS' donation so important. Laurie J. Raffino, who is the Communications Manager for the Buffalo IRS office, was busily setting up the Pentium computers on Wednesday morning. He explained, "The computers became excess when we were doing our updates for Y2K. And rather than just dumping them in the garbage, we made arrangements to donate them to the center. They're perfect for what the kids here want to use them for, like games and stuff."
The IRS is able to give the Even Start program the hardware for the computers. Unfortunately, because of licensing agreements, the IRS cannot give software with the computers.
Some software was immediately available for the kids, though. After the IRS agents finished setting up the computers, they installed, Winnie the Pooh Ready to Read. The children really seemed to enjoy it. They quickly crowded around the monitors in order to inspect the new technology.
Other software will be soon available. Debbie Reyes said, "We are affiliated with Holy Cross, so we're going to be able to use some of their stuff." She continued, "We'd also love software donations from the community. But it must be Windows 95 compliant."
The importance of the computers for these children at The Belle Center is so clear. The IRS Special Agent for Criminal Investigation Eliacim Santiago said, "Today, if you don't know computers, you're lost!"
