In 1965, Milton Olive threw himself on a grenade in Vietnam to save some of his buddies in the 173rd Airborne Brigade. That sacrifice had a profound effect on his tent mate, Robert Toporek. "When Miltie died," says Toporek, "I made a vow that I would make a difference in this world." 

And that he has done - by providing computers to those in need. Toporek got the idea while working with kids in a lower-income Philadelphia neighborhood. As he got to know these children, he realized many had no fathers, books, or computers - nothing to help give them hope. So he began finding used computers and giving them to families in the neighborhood. 

After the death of his ex-wife, Toporek found himself a single father and flat broke. "I had to reassess where I was going in my life. Her illness had taken all my savings. I still had a hundred computers and I needed to figure out what to do with them,” said Toporek. "Well, someone said that the best way to solve a problem is to get a bigger problem. So I asked myself what it would take to help 2,000 families get a computer. What would I have to do? What would I have to give up?" 

The first thing he needed was space. After the first 39 realtors turned him down, he found one who let him use a warehouse in Norristown, PA rent-free for a year. From this beginning, Team Children was born. Team Children, a non-profit agency, is staffed by volunteers, half of whom are adults (many of them veterans and seniors) and the other half, teenagers. 

After he reached his initial goal of providing computers to 2,000 families, Toporek was ready to quit and spend more time with his son. But his son wouldn't have it! "Dad, you can't quit," he said. "I can sacrifice a little of your time so more families can be helped!" 

Through Team Children, Toporek has now provided over 5,000 computers. Over 90 percent have gone to single women at or below poverty level or children with developmental disabilities. In fact, the first woman who received a computer will soon graduate high school. Toporek is proud of the fact that his mission is also beginning to change the lives of other members of her family - he just went back to train them on using computers, too. 

Having seen what his program can do in one neighborhood, Toporek dreams of bringing his vision of a computer in every home to entire towns or even states. "What we are doing is just a step in the road to transforming how we as a culture raise our children." says Toporek, "so that every child has an opportunity to succeed."