blogcutter

Looking back over the past fourteen months, it's hard to imagine how we would have coped if we didn't have reliable internet service. Time was, people without a proper computer set-up at home could at least flock to their local public library and book a time to use the computers there. But with most libraries, schools, community centres and the like shuttered because of the pandemic, the options are much more limited. These institutions can now only loan out laptops and such to one family at a time and realistically, with our lives moved almost entirely online, even one computer to a household is likely insufficient.

So this week, I decided to direct my donation to the National Capital Freenet's Community Access Fund:

https://www.ncf.ca/en/high-speed-internet/community-access-fund/

Not sure to what extent it will help people in rural and remote areas where the infrastructure is in many cases inadequate, but initiatives such as this one are at least a step towards helping some low-income folk to tune in to the online world.