Connected Tennessee, a Connected Nation non-profit, reaches a major milestone

Deanna Ward (left) of Connected Tennessee presents a computer to Demetria Smith during a Connected Tennessee Computer 4 Kids event.

"If you want to be an athlete, you need a helmet and pads but if you want to get an education, you need a computer." - Deanna Ward, Connected Tennessee, May 5, 2009

Earlier this month, Connected Tennessee, a Connected Nation non-profit, reached a major milestone, donating its 1,600th computer as part of its two-year old Computers 4 Kids program.

Darlene Adams, just one of the program's many computer recipients, expressed her overwhelming gratitude at a donation ceremony on May 5 in Covington, Tenn.

"Right now I want to cry, I really do because I mean I can't afford to buy a computer so my kids they are going to love this," she told WHBQ-TV in Memphis, Tenn.

Connected Tennessee's Computers 4 Kids initiative places computers in the hands of underprivileged children and their families across Tennessee. In a term of three years, the program will donate at least 3,000 computers to children, families and organizations in need across the state.

As America fights for widespread broadband, programs like Connected Tennessee's Computers 4 Kids can help eliminate one of the barriers of broadband adoption—computer ownership.

To see other stories from CTN's Computers 4 Kids intitiative, visit the program's Web site.