When some school districts announced the 2020-2021 school year would begin in an online learning format, St. Paul, Minn.-based The Sanneh Foundation moved quickly to support families in new ways.
The nonprofit organization — which promotes educational attainment among youth — established a Distanced Learning Hub to provide students a safe place to learn with access to devices, internet, tutoring and meals while their parents are at work.
At the same time, Securian Financial searched for a way to donate up to 110 new laptops the company no longer needed. The timing was right to donate 70 of them to The Sanneh Foundation to support the nonprofit’s learning hub. The other 40 laptops were donated to the Partnership for a ConnectedMN.
Rapid shift to remote work
When Securian Financial moved most of its employees to working at home instead of the office, it needed additional laptops — which were in high demand and hard to find. As a safeguard until enterprise-level laptops were available, Securian purchased 110 home-level versions, but ultimately ended up not needing them.
“We knew we had a great opportunity to donate the laptops to support our community and wanted to find a local organization that would benefit,” explains Kris Rexroth, director of user services, Enterprise Technology at Securian Financial. “We decided The Sanneh Foundation was a great fit.”