From Trash, He Delivers New Computers

July 29, 2007 — -- Fifteen-year-old tech wiz Jacob Komar is making his mark by making a difference -- turning trash into working computers for needy families.

Jacob Komar: By the time I was nine, I was tearing apart computers -- hardware, basically -- just going through and pulling parts out of other computers, putting them in newer computers and things like that.

I was at my sister's elementary school and I found out that they were throwing away a whole lab of computers just because they were outdated.

First, I was like, "Well, wow, they're throwing all these away," like, you know, "This seems like a waste." And then I kind of thought about it and I was like, "Wow, well, there's got to be kids that don't have computers at home." ... Maybe I could take those computers and fix them up, whatever they need done to them, and then give them to kids at the school who could use them.

The first year, I refurbished about two computers a week. ... I remember one of the first houses I went to, I was pretty shy. I was nine, you know, and going into someone's house and set up their computer. I remember the kid who was at the house was just absolutely so grateful. The way he described it, it was like Santa Claus walked in the door, you know. And he gave me one of his most prized possessions, a little juice box. I still have it.

Since 2001, Komar's organization, "Computers for Communities," has distributed more than 1,500 computers. To find out more about it, go to the Web site for Computers for Communities