Adam Dickson, a sixth-grade student at Sequim Middle School, works on a computer as OlyPen sales manager Chris Lelle, left, and Sequim Kiwanis Club president Joe Treece look on. Dickson, 12, demonstrated some of the uses for the computers donated to the Sequim Boys & Girls Club. Behind them sit the new computers that were donated to the club. Photo by Kristi Langenbacher

One Sequim resident saw a need in the community and worked with others to help make it better.

James Zettas wanted children at the Boys & Girls Clubs to have new computers. So, he donated $2,500 to the Sequim Kiwanis Club for that purpose. Kiwanis worked with OlyPen, through its Computers for the Community program, and on Aug. 22, Zettas’ dream became a reality.

OlyPen sales manager Chris Lelle and Kiwanis Club president Joe Treece presented five new computers and about a dozen used or refurbished ones to the Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St. They also donated five new computers to the Port Angeles Boys & Girls Club.

‘Really amazing’
Ashley Woolsey, technology coordinator for the Sequim club, said the donation means a lot to the many children who will have the opportunity to use them after school each day.

“It’s really amazing and such a positive thing for these kids,” she said of the donation.

Zettas was out of town when Lelle and Treece presented the computers to the children and staff at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club last week, but Lelle said he should be proud of what his donation produced.

Lelle said the value of the computers is far more than $2,500, and his staff spent two to three hours building each new machine, plus additional time refurbishing and updating the used computers.

He said the Computers for the Community program started last August and has been well-received.

“There have been a lot of people who’ve given to OlyPen over the last 16-plus years that we’ve been in business and we wanted to give back,” Lelle said. “We also wanted to help the environment.”

400 into 140
He said the company has received more than 400 computer parts and has used those to give 140 used and refurbished computers to the community. They have donated computers to foster families, the Sequim Senior Activity Center, Healthy Families of Clallam County and the Sequim Museum and Arts Center.

The donation also fits nicely with the mission of the Kiwanis Club, Treece said.

“Part of our major goal is to support children around the world, and we like to help children locally as well.”

The club is working on obtaining sponsors for patriotic banners that are sponsored by local merchants and hung around the downtown area.

The club meets weekly at noon at Paradise Restaurant, 703 N. Sequim Ave. Once a month, local business owners speak at the meeting. This week Sofie’s Florist is the featured business. For more information or to attend the meeting, call Treece at 681-2097.

For more information or to make a donation to OlyPen’s computer program, call Lelle at 683-1456 or 800-303-8696.

The Boys & Girls Club Carroll C. Kendall Unit in Sequim provides a variety of after school programs from 2-6 p.m. on weekdays. For more information about upcoming after school and summer programs, call 683-8095.