Kramden Institute, Inc., is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable corporation. It is based on a father/son project initiated in their home June 2003, when Ned Dibner, then 13, suggested to his father Mark to refurbish and fix older computers to donate to middle school honor-roll students in Durham, NC who could not afford home computers.  This pilot project was highly successful and,from July 2003 through March 2004, over 90 personal computers and 50 monitors were donated to the project from individuals and businesses, and 50 computer systems were completed and donated to the school under the Kramden for Kids™ name. These systems were disbursed to sixth, seventh and eighth grade students who were on the All-A or A/B Honor Rolls but who could not afford home computers. By May 2004, ALL honor-roll students in the school had computers in their homes.  Additional computer equipment and computers were donated to the school for classroom and teacher use.  The initial project was highly successful, and was the basis for the activities and growth of Kramden Institute.

In our pilot project, the rebuilt computers were donated to a middle school, which in turn donated them to its students who cannot afford home computers.  In our first year, we targeted honor roll students at Brogden Middle School in Durham, NC.  Each kid who did not have a home computer received a working CPU, Monitor, keyboard/mouse, and  software for word processing and other Office functions.  We placed a modem in each computer and installed freeware antivirus, office, and other programs.  We also wrote a user's manual (with Spanish translation, too!) and provided some free initial ISP hookup.  Since we were unable to get individual printers and worry about the cost of toner, etc. we set up printer stations at the school, where kids can bring in floppy disks or possibly send in homework to be printed via the internet or modem.  Other equipment is being donated directly to the school to help the teachers teach.

Honor roll students were chosen for two reasons.  First, on a practical note, there were only so many computers we could refurbish as part of the pilot project.  Second, we believe in the concept of helping people help themselves.  Kids who strive to do well in school will, and should be, rewarded and given tools to perform even better.  We have now expanded the program to include many schools and will add educational programs, training programs, and information sharing programs.  Further, we have expanded the donations beyond honor roll students to include other hard-working students as identified by the schools and teachers.

Now, seven years later, Kramden has donated over 6,000 computers, given out computers in 52 NC counties, donated computers to kids of our enlisted men and women serving overseas, and have given PCs to kids in such great programs as Communities in Schools, the Emily K. Center, and Habitat for Humanity.  More than that, we are working to make our program national.  Like Habitat for Humanity, we believe that communities can mobilize volunteers, resources, geeks, and equipment to help serve kids in their area.  We are truly of the community, for the community.