Tech volunteers here to help this Saturday

By Gwyneth Hyndman

For more than a year a neighborhood tech support group has been volunteering time to help locals upgrade their computer skills on Thursdays - now the Coffee & Computers group will be offering a pre-Christmas session this Saturday, Dec. 17,  for anyone unsure of a gadget gift purchase or for help in correctly configuring tech they’re about to give.

Volunteer Tom Browder said the group of roughly six volunteers started to offer the service in October 2021 in the Seeley Lake Community Foundation Building, pinning down each session for a Thursday once a month. They weren’t sure how needed the group would be - but each month they’ve seen people come in with their laptop, tablet or phone, eager to get answers as they dive into a new, sometimes life-changing, challenge.

“There is online and chat support out there,” Browder said. “But people really need you to sit with them … we might spend an hour with a person - we’d usually get six to eight people who come in [each day].”

It’s mostly seniors who show up, said Browder, but not exclusively. In one case a woman couldn’t pay her bills online and wasn’t able to  figure out why - it turned out that her Mac browser had to be updated. In another instance, a local who was launching into remote work needed tech support - a few hours with the volunteers helped set her up for success going forward. 

“We’ve also had [people] come in wanting help with dating apps for seniors,” Browder said. “It’s everything.”

The volunteers are set up for questions about Apple Macs and iPads; Smartphones and all types of PCs.

The group is set up in the west wing of the building “to drink coffee and troubleshoot” this Saturday, Dec. 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.