In February of 2023, Stormgears started planning and hosting an EV3 donation drive. With the transition from EV3 to SPIKE motors in FLL, we thought that rather than EV3s being stored away, we could collect them, and donate them to underprivileged children across the world.
To execute this, Stormgears first got consent from several towns in Massachusetts including Chelmsford, Acton, Stonybrook, and Westford, to place boxes in their public schools and libraries to collect donations. We accepted items including EV3 motors, FLL game mats, kit models, and any other kit accessories one may want to donate.
To publicize this, we hung flyers in locations with donation boxes, and posted these flyers on our social media to advocate for the cause as well. Furthermore, if one did not have easy access to a physical donation box, we allowed mail-in donations, as a more accessible alternative to accommodate for everyone.
Our current intention is to give the collected donations to countries with fewer STEM resources. This would allow children to gain a better experience in the field of robotics. To do so, we have started correspondence with Just Cause to create a possible partnership. Overall, as a team, Stormgears will take any opportunity we get to help children interested in STEM to pursue this passion, and because of this, we are hoping to expand our list of donation receivers, and provide more resources to underprivileged children across the world!