Got An Old Laptop Or Broken Phone? This West Side Nonprofit Will Give It New Life 16%
By Michael Liptrot27%
7/31/2026, 5:50:31 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 7 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Optimism Bias, and False Dilemma, with Availability Heuristic as the most egregious example at 10.1% saturation with 63 hits. Analysis detected 333 faulty-reasoning hits from 626 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 27.1% and a BS Rank of 16% (21,497 of 25,472 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 84.40% of the article peer group.
WEST SIDE — A West Side nonprofit has set up sites to collect old, discarded tech products, with plans to refurbish the devices and distribute them to families in need.
Fresh Supply, a Garfield Park nonprofit, this summer opened two recycling hubs to collect old and unwanted electronics.
The hubs — which accept cellphones, laptops and tablets — are at the Garfield Park Community Council headquarters at 4215 W.
Washington Blvd. and BUILD Chicago at 5100 W.
Harrison St. in Austin.
The organization is aiming to redistribute the refurbished devices throughout the West Side ultimately for free, in an effort to address the digital divide that leaves many West Side homes with lower access to technology.
“The premise is encouraging building a grassroots community collection system that’s not top-down.
Truly ending e‑waste only works if community gets involved in it,” said Jasmine Jones, who co-founded Fresh Supply with her brother, David Jones.
“The idea is to open up as many collection hubs as we can across the city.”
The e-waste collection hubs let anyone drop off their old or broken devices at one of the sites.
The devices are then sent to PCs for People, an Oak Lawn-based electronic recycling nonprofit that will refurbish the devices to be sold at a fraction of the cost.
Jones said the price range for refurbished devices can range from $75 for older PCs to upwards of $200 for new MacBooks.
Ultimately, Fresh Supply’s goal is to distribute devices to West Siders for free.
The next phase of Fresh Supply’s plan is engaging with corporate partners to help fund buying back the devices from PCs for People.
Plans are not finalized, but Jones said Fresh Supply is looking to have its first device giveaway for the holiday season later this year.
Fresh Supply, a Garfield Park nonprofit, this summer opened two recycling hubs to collect old electronics at the Garfield Community Council headquarters at 4215 W.
Washington Blvd. (pictured) and BUILD Chicago at 5100 W.
Harrison St. in Austin.
Credit: Facebook
The idea for Fresh Supply grew from Jones’ time teaching physics at Al Raby High School in Garfield Park.
During her teaching years, Jones developed a curriculum focused on environmental racism on the West Side.
This work, combined with a solar power initiative she led at the school and her brother developing a mutual aid app to support Louisiana residents impacted by Hurricane Ida, informed the nonprofit’s mission of exploring the intersection of sustainability and tech.
Citywide, over 15 percent of Chicago residents don’t have internet at home, and about 8 percent don’t have any tech devices such as a computer, tablet or smart phone, according to the city’s 2023 Digital Equity Plan .
The 10 least internet-connected neighborhoods, where one in four residents do not have internet, are on the South and West sides, according to the report.
Austin, West Garfield Park, East Garfield Park and Little Village are among the top 10 neighborhoods without internet access, each having 30 percent or more households without internet, according to a 2022 University of Chicago analysis .
“We’re focusing on the West Side for a couple reasons.
One is because our communities are impacted the most by these environmental disparities to begin with,” Jones said.
“We’re not going to be victimized and just stand on the sideline and wait for someone to come rescue us.”
In 2024, Fresh Supply launched its West Side Community Network, a text-based hotline that provides information on community news, local events and community hubs for residents without internet, according to Austin Weekly .
For more information on Fresh Supply or how to donate devices, visit the nonprofit’s website .
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