MOOSEHEART, IL – Adding technology to a school building is never inexpensive. So imagine the smiles that were created Monday, Jan. 26 when six ready-to-use computers made their way into the Mooseheart school building.

The computers, which came with hard drives, monitors, keyboards and mice, were donated by the Naperville office of Reynolds, Smith and Hills, Inc., a facilities, infrastructure and aviation consulting firm has its corporate headquarters in Jacksonville, FL.

“I know Gary Urwiler, the Superintendent of Education, would love to get a computer into the hands of every middle school and high school student at Mooseheart,” Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart said. “Or we’d like to be able to allow them all to have access to a computer. Donations like this will allow (Urwiler) and his educational staff to expand that technology at Mooseheart.”

Locally, RS&H has on its staff Michael Lazaruk, who is also the Junior Governor at Batavia, IL Lodge 682. And Lazaruk, who is a Senior Aviation Designer at RS&H, said there isn’t much he wouldn’t do to help the children at Mooseheart.
“Our company is always getting new computers,” Lazaruk said. “Instead of throwing them away, we decided we could refurbish them and donate them to a charity.”

The computers were first offered to company employees. Any remaining machines were then donated. Employees submitted charities they felt were worthy of receiving the equipment. Lazaruk wrote about Mooseheart.
“The first drawing was in December, and Mooseheart won it,” Lazaruk said.
Lazaruk and RS&H Senior Technician Tammy Merrill brought the six computers, which consisted of hard drives, monitors, keyboards and mice to Mooseheart.

“We’re reformatted all six computers and they now just have Windows XP in them,” Merrill said. “Whatever the school needs, they’re ready to go.”
Merrill said most of the computers are three years old, but some may be as old as five or six years of age. All the machines, she said, had significant life left after their refurbishment.

“We’d be sending them back to Dell or HP if we didn’t refurbish them,” Merrill said. “If they can be used by others, then that’s a great thing.”
Merrill said there are network cards in all six machines, should Mooseheart decide to link them together. Current plans are to use the machines in a writing lab.

“They’ll be able to come to these computers and use them perhaps for research of report writing,” Hart said. “It will really provide another avenue for our kids. Right now, there aren’t so many computers at the school that the kids can be on.”

In general, Hart said he was pleased that Lazaruk thought of Mooseheart when the charitable donation was announced at RS&H.

“The nice thing is that the members of the local Lodge see the opportunity to connect their businesses and the corporate world with the fraternal world and connect their companies with Mooseheart,” Hart said. “This could lead to a bigger partnership with RS&H. It starts with six computers and who knows where it could lead?”

Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a secure home, located just south of Batavia, IL, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road.

Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations - the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,900 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.

Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.
Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.

Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 250 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.

In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville, FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.
Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.Mooseintl.org and www.Mooseheart.org or call 630-966-2229.