ORANGE, Texas — A Southeast Texas church recently received a blessing in the form of technology.
A nonprofit gifted Salem United Methodist Church in Orange with gently used laptops. The church plans to use them to help kids who need an extra helping hand with their homework.
There's a weekly program where these kids will be able to put these new laptops to use. Leaders at the church say a community member found out about the program and was inspired to help donate laptops that otherwise would have been thrown away.
"Having him be able to come to church with me and get extra learning is great.," said Tracee Garrett, a parent who attends the church.
At Salem United Methodist Church, while parents are in bible study, down the hall their children are learning with youth director Velenta Mathews.
"As a teacher, I know that a child who doesn't know their sight words won't be a good reader," said Mathews.
Mathews has spent 30 years in the classroom and decided to approach Pastor Emanuel Echols about a new education program.
"We've always talked about since I've been here for a year. How can we bring education into the church setting," said Echols.
Echols says they purchased a program called Codemonkey three months ago. It allows students to learn the skills to eventually get a drone license and code robots.
"They're learning coding words. Sequencing. They're going to know language that students in regular schools don't have," said Mathews.
However, with 5-9 children learning, they needed more resources.
"For the first two weeks we had one computer that was operating," Echols said,
After a casual run-in at a computer store, Mathews says Maquettia Ledet volunteered to help. She was able to get her employer, a nonprofit called Endeavors, to donate eight gently used laptops.
"Not only do we get to make a difference in the communities we serve, but this particular project has also contributed to our initiatives to be green," Ledet said.
For parents like Garrett, who don't have a computer at home, it's making a world of difference for her son. She's looking forward to seeign her son improve with this new program and technology.
"He's only 8-years-old, so that's great for his future. It's going to give him a step ahead," Garrett said.
Echols says the Codemoney program allows the church to service 50 children. He hopes to eventually expand the program to children across Orange.