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Yvette Marrin

This issue of Cristina Connections marks an important milestone for the National Cristina Foundation as we celebrate our 20th anniversary. Though Bruce McMahan and I as co-founders spent the previous two years sharing our ideas and crafting the vision of what we hoped the Foundation could accomplish, the formal work began on the first of August 1985.

When Bruce donated that first computer to his daughter Cristina’s special education classroom in 1983 at my request, little did we realize that that would mark the beginning of a journey that has enabled us to construct a national and international donation channel for previously used computer technology that has, to date, benefited millions of people with disabilities, at risk students, and economically disadvantaged individuals.

By working with corporations, specialists, and practitioners in the field, the National Cristina Foundation offers answers for eliminating a tremendous amount of potential waste. Computer devices and related peripherals, when appropriately directed and applied as they come out of their first place of service, give those who need this access the opportunity to acquire important tools for education, rehabilitation, job skill development and communication. Putting abilities to work using practical community-based solutions forms the core of what the National Cristina Foundation is all about.

I recall that first day in my new office provided to me within Bruce McMahan’s company then at 40 Wall Street in New York City. Looking at my empty desk I thought about the challenge we had defined for ourselves to connect people with special needs to technology access and how that might be accomplished.

I reflected on this as I looked out of the window from 61 floors above the busy city. Looking down at the majestic New York harbor, my eyes were drawn to the Statue of Liberty, her torch held high to welcome the many who come to the United States in search of new hope and opportunity. I stood and watched her for a long time, drawn to this magnificent symbol of independence and freedom and I wept. Staring at the Statue of Liberty, the symbol of liberation became etched in my heart and mind, and to this day I always keep that image before me. For me this represents the National Cristina Foundation’s commitment to assure that computers which come out of their first place of service can become tools for supporting new powers and freedoms.

In this issue we will chronicle for you some of the places we have been and the people we’ve met. And we reflect upon the challenges that we have yet to face and overcome. Since the first days in the early 1980s when we realized it would be critical to pioneer the creation of a national donation channel for used computer technology, our ongoing objective has been to assure that both technological and human capital resources will NEVER be wasted.

The need for reuse of donated computer and related technology for those in need remains ever more important, the demand far exceeding what is made available from people and companies who outgrow their equipment.

That journey to prevent this waste has been, and continues to be, National Cristina Foundation’s reason for being.