2600!

This is actually a case of good news and bad news...

Good News: as of the end of March, Project Valour-IT has distributed 2,600 laptops to the wounded! Besides using the voice-control software to do typical computer tasks, people are discovering that the laptops are very useful for therapies related to things like Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) or eye injuries. Part of therapies for these injuries often involves "retraining" the brain to do everything from maintain a sense of physical balance to speech pathology or strengthening an injured eye. Having a laptop enables people recovering from these kinds of wounds to use the software provided by caregivers to boost or continue their physical and occupational therapies.

Bad News: We are scraping the bottom of the barrel again. Due to an increase in wounded during first part of the "surge" in Iraq in 2007, the demand for laptops increased. We were able to meet the need at the time, but as we head into the summer months, donations will go down and we are concerned about our ability to meet future needs.

The laptops are having very powerful effects in the social, psychological and physical recoveries of those who "laid it on the line" for all of us. Let us do everything we can to make sure we continue to support them in their time of need.