MILWUAKEE — Over 100 kids sat in the middle of a jam-packed room at the Boys and Girls Club Ready Center. They thought they were there just to learn about the partnership between the clubs, AT&T, and the Donald Driver Foundation.
They knew they'd meet the Green Bay Packers all-time leading receiver Donald Driver, but they didn't know what they'd walk home with.
"We're going to provide every single person in this room with a laptop," Driver told the students after talking to them about opportunities for inner city youth.
After hearing Driver, the teenagers in the crowd started to applaud.
"We started planning back in May, it was something that we kept quiet," said Andre Douglas, the assistant vice president of the Grad Plus and Teen Services at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. "Our staff didn’t know, the students didn’t know."
Watch: Over 100 kids received free laptops to bridge the technological gap
The laptops are an attempt to increase digital literacy and help bridge the gap between inner-city youth and technology.
"Digital literacy, embrace it and utilize it to your advantage," said Jaiden Alvarado-Jones, a Grad Plus Student.
Alvarado-Jones, an incoming high school senior, received a laptop and gave a speech to his peers about the importance of technology for young people.
"Let’s be innovative in the way that we learn and incorporate digital literacy and not try to shy away from it," Alvarado-Jones said. "It’s something that we have to embrace to move forward in society."
With school starting up soon, organizers feel this could be a crucial step to keeping education and other opportunities accessible for the youth.
"A chance at higher education and careers, it just means our future’s bright," Douglas said. "People always talk about what’s wrong with Milwaukee, and I always say it every time I talk, this is what’s right with Milwaukee."
AT&T also donated $40,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee to promote digital literacy programs.
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