Microsoft, BluePeak donate $20,000 in tech funding to 3 Northern Nevada nonprofits

Monica DuPea, Executive Director of the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project in Reno, accepts a $9,610 donation check from Microsoft Reno and BluePeak Technology Solutions representatives on June 22, 2021.

Monica DuPea, Executive Director of the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project in Reno, accepts a $9,610 donation check from Microsoft Reno and BluePeak Technology Solutions representatives on June 22, 2021. Courtesy Photo

By Kaleb Roedel

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

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In July, the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project, a nonprofit that helps homeless young women in the Reno area reroute their lives, will see more than 15 new laptops handed out to residents and staff, TVs and digital signage installed, and its operation moved to the Microsoft 365 suite of tools.

And it won’t cost the organization a penny.

Receiving a $9,610 donation for an IT overhaul, NYEP is one of three Northern Nevada nonprofits that have been awarded funding from Microsoft Reno and BluePeak Technology Solutions.

Together, the two companies last week donated a total of $20,000 from the 13th annual IT Makeover Campaign.

The other two nonprofits receiving funds for much-needed tech updates are Reno-based Adopt a Vet Dental Program ($5,960), which gives free dental care to impoverished veterans in Northern and Central Nevada, and Carson City-based Xquisite ($4,375), which is dedicated to bringing freedom and empowerment to sexually exploited women and youth who are survivors of human trafficking, sexual assault and domestic violence.

Adopt a Vet Dental Program in Reno received a $5,960 donation from Microsoft Reno and BluePeak Technology Solutions as part of the 13th annual IT Makeover Campaign, which awarded three local nonprofits in technology funding.

 


“It’s to empower these nonprofits to help more people in the community,” David Taylor, community relations and communication manager at Microsoft Reno, told the NNBW. “All of these nonprofits do amazing things to help more people in our community. Because technology’s changing so quickly and rapidly, a lot of times they are restricted on what they can use their funds for when they fundraise.”

With nonprofits limited in their ability to raise funds and operate amid the coronavirus pandemic, the need for an IT makeover is perhaps greater than ever.

This, Taylor said, is why Microsoft Reno saw more than 40 Northern Nevada nonprofits apply for technology funding in 2021 — the most submissions ever received for the annual program.

“A lot of their fundraisers and everything were canceled the past year,” Taylor said. “They’re always worrying about the budgets going toward their programming and services, and the last thing they think about is, ‘how do we get the latest and greatest to help us run our organization?’ And that’s what this IT makeover does.”

Xquisite in Carson City received a $4,375 donation from Microsoft Reno and BluePeak Technology Solutions as part of the 13th annual IT Makeover Campaign, which awarded three local nonprofits in technology funding.

 

For more than a decade, Microsoft Reno has led an effort to help nonprofits upgrade their technology and, in turn, enhance the services it provides the greater Reno-Carson City region.

This is the first year Microsoft Reno partnered with BluePeak, an IT solutions business in Reno, which will install each of the nonprofits’ new tech equipment.

To date, Microsoft Reno and its partners have helped donate nearly $300,000 to more than 30 nonprofits.

“It’s a core program of Microsoft to give back in the communities in which we work and live,” Taylor said. “And obviously the most impactful way we can do that is with our programs and services that Microsoft offers.”

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