The Durham Literacy Center is excited to announce that Triangle Ecycling has been selected as the 2022 recipient of their Leaders in Literacy Award. The award will be conveyed during a lunchtime ceremony on Thursday, May 12th at Durham Central Park.
Triangle Ecycling is a Durham nonprofit with the mission to make Durham smarter, cleaner and more equitable. They do this through hosting tech education internships that have provided over 135 DPS high school students the opportunity to work in their business for a semester. They also teach computer tech classes at the Durham Public Library and their nonprofit partners such as the Durham Literacy Center (DLC). They donate 10% of their profits to the DPS Foundation.
Triangle Ecycling provides pickup and electronics recycling services to businesses and other organizations and offers free drop off at their shop for the community. Through these services, they keep over 100 tons of e-waste out of the landfill annually with much of it being reused. In addition to these services, they donate over 400 laptops per year to help bridge the digital equity divide. This is done through nonprofit partners and directly to Durham Public Schools students and families in need. They also sell refurbished computers at discount prices online at TriangleEcycling.com.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Triangle Ecycling has served as a vital technology partner for the DLC, helping to source and refurbish 80 Chromebooks for the DLC’s Technology Lending Library. This partnership has enabled DLC students to check out Chromebooks to use at home, connecting them to online classes and learning platforms throughout the pandemic.
According to DLC Executive Director Lizzie Ellis-Furlong, “Triangle Ecycling is a vital leader for digital equity here in Durham. Before COVID-19, they provided in-kind technical assistance, free computers for our students and for our two on-site computer labs, and they even hired one of our youth high school equivalency (i.e. GED ®) graduates. During the pandemic, Triangle Ecycling helped us to source affordable Chromebooks, making it possible for us to switch quickly to remote instruction. We, and the Durham community, are incredibly fortunate to count them as a partner!”
The Leaders in Literacy Award will be presented during the 15th Annual Leaders in Literacy Awards ceremony on Thursday, May 12, 2022 at Durham Central Park. This event is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors, including The Bart Ehrman Foundation & Blog, RTI International, The Forest at Duke, PNC Bank, and the Duke Office of Durham and Community Affairs. For more information about this event, contact Amy Bogie, DLC Director of Development, at amycbogie@durhamliteracy.org or 919-489-8383 ext. 30.
