Jefferson City Boys & Girls Club Opens New Rent One Computer Lab

In December, St. Louis-based Rent One launched its fifth annual Great Expectations Charity of Choice campaign, providing much-needed donations to charities in all of the company’s 10 regions located across the Midwest. Voluntary payroll deductions from Rent One employees were at the heart of the charity drive, with those pooled funds matched by corporate participation as well as contributions from Rent One’s Larry and Sharon Carrico. Region 10 donated $5,000 to the Jefferson City Boys & Girls Club that was undergoing construction of its new facility at the time. The funds were used to construct and fill the organization’s elementary learning center that now includes a “Rent One Computer Lab” and library.

The new 18,000 square foot facility serves approximately 180 elementary children on the main level and an additional 150 middle and high school students on the lower level.  The organization provides after school services at no cost to low-income children in the community.  The Rent One Computer Lab is networked to a server providing internet and wifi to every computer station with multiple docks and outlets for laptops and tablets. The donation was used to furnish the lab and to purchase a variety of learning tools such as learning-based games and curriculum. “The Boys & Girls Club of Jefferson City is so grateful to Rent One for supporting its mission of changing the lives of youth,” shares Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Stephanie Johnson. During the day, the computer lab serves as a classroom for suspended students of the Jefferson City public schools. “Many times students whose behavior warrants suspension from school are among the most at-risk children in our school district,” says Johnson. “The Boys & Girls Club offers a safe place for students to go during the day to complete classwork so they are not so far behind when they return after suspension.” Rent One is listed on the learning center’s donor wall and the company logo is displayed on t-shirts for children that attended the new facility’s first class.