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Contributing

There are five ways to help Second Boot do its work.

1 · Donate hardware

The single most useful contribution. Second Boot accepts:

  • Laptops (primary need): working, repairable, or parts-donors all welcome
  • Tablets: case-by-case, especially useful for the Seniors track
  • Desktops: case-by-case, mostly useful for the makerspace test bench
  • Chargers, cables, mice, keyboards: always needed
  • RAM and SSDs: especially needed for refurbishment upgrades

What we don't need: monitors-only, printers, unrepairable mechanical damage, anything older than ~10 years.

Corporate IT departments: Second Boot can process bulk laptop retirement and issue per-device wipe certificates for your records. The sanitization procedure is documented end-to-end at Data Sanitization & Wipe Certificate, designed to align with NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 and IEEE 2883-2022. Contact: (TBD — Phase 0 deliverable).

Tax deductibility: Donations are deductible when BNI Foundation completes 501(c)(3) — see BNI entity timeline. Until then, donation receipts document the contribution but tax treatment depends on the donor's situation.

2 · Volunteer

Volunteer roles fall into three categories:

At the makerspace (refurbishment)

  • Hardware repair and refurbishment
  • Triage and intake
  • Mentorship for Hardware Technician Trainees (especially valuable from working IT professionals)
  • General operations

In the classroom (instruction)

  • Module facilitation (especially valuable from subject experts: developers for Module 07, AI practitioners for Module 04, designers for Module 06)
  • Seniors track buddy (Module 08) — required role; pairs 1:1 with a participant for the full track
  • Instructor training for Peer Instructor candidates

Behind the scenes (operations)

  • Intake and inventory data entry
  • Donor outreach and communications
  • Grant writing assistance (per the BNI AI Use Policy, AI drafts but humans submit)
  • Documentation and curriculum updates

Volunteer commitment levels vary from a one-time donation drive to weekly engagement. There is no minimum.

3 · Partner

If you run an organization that serves any of Second Boot's target audiences — schools, recovery centers, reentry programs, senior centers, libraries, shelters, after-school programs — see Partners for what a partnership looks like.

Initial conversations are 30 minutes. No commitment expected.

4 · Fund

See Grants & Funding for the funder strategy. If you are:

  • A local funder or community foundation in WV: a 5-figure local grant is the single highest-leverage thing for Second Boot right now. The program has the design; what it needs is operational runway.
  • A corporate sponsor: cash, hardware, and employee volunteer time all count. Sponsorship of a Hardware Trainee cohort is especially impactful.
  • An individual donor: direct contributions to BNI Foundation are accepted (with the same 501(c)(3) caveat above).

Contact: (TBD — Phase 0 deliverable).

5 · Improve the docs

This site is open source and improvements are welcome. To suggest changes:

Doc conventions

If you do contribute markdown directly:

  • Pages live under docs/
  • The Epistemic Honesty directive applies — significant claims about program outcomes should carry a validation marker ([HYPOTHESIS], [EXPERT REVIEWED], [PILOT VALIDATED], [EMPIRICALLY VALIDATED])
  • mkdocs build --strict is run by CI — broken internal links fail the build, so test locally with mkdocs serve first
  • Year-1 KPIs and outcome claims are particularly sensitive — preserve the honest framing

What Second Boot doesn't accept

  • Donations of broken devices the program couldn't responsibly recycle
  • Volunteer time conditional on access to participant data (privacy first)
  • Sponsorship conditional on placing partner branding on awarded devices
  • Funding tied to outcome guarantees the program cannot honestly make (see Impact & KPIs)

The boundaries above are part of the program's integrity. They are not negotiable.