Kids at the Webster Kendrick Club react with glee after receiving free Kindles from Amazon.
Youth members at the Webster Kendrick Club in Baltimore, Maryland shouted with joy and excitement as they were surprised with a donation of 70 Kindle Fire HD devices from Amazon Fulfillment.
Mark Marzano, director of fulfillment at Amazon’s Baltimore location, asked the Boys and Girls Club members for help in opening the boxes that held the Kindles. Once they discovered what the surprise was, the room was immediately filled with joy. One youth member even exclaimed, “It’s like Christmas!”
As Amazon Fulfillment team members helped the children unwrap the devices, Marzano announced that Amazon would be donating the Kindles to the seven Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Marzano said. “We’ve done it in several states and several school districts. It’s just a good fit for learning and education.”
It did not take long for the youth members to discover how to operate the devices. The fulfillment team members were amazed at how quickly the children activated the Kindles.
James Morris, a nine-year-old youth member at Webster Kendrick Club was ecstatic as he removed a Kindle from the plastic it was wrapped in.
“I felt happy because this thing hasn’t happened for us in a long time,” Morris said.
Amazon made the Kindle donation in hopes of advancing the children’s interests in technology.
“They (Amazon) have paved the way to where education can be fun, learning is fun,” said Councilwoman Sharon Green Middleton (District 6). “Children love hands-on, technical things and this is going to motivate them to continuing to follow the path of learning.”
The company also wants the donation to assist in furthering the My Future Program which aims to promote STEM education at the Boys and Girls Club.
“It’s going to give them more access to the Internet, to technology,” said Kenneth Darden, President/ CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore. “Some of them don’t have those at home, but they’ll have access to them here.”