Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District, distributed refurbished desktop computers and mobile hotspots to 100 local students on Feb. 27 at his district office at 1722 Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park.

(photo courtesy of the 13th District Council Office)

The distribution was part of the OurcycleLA program, which provides thousands of computers formerly used by the city to low-income families. The program also helps the city minimize electronic waste.

Each computer came with a mobile hotspot and free Internet service for four years. O’Farrell funded the service in partnership with Sprint’s ConnectED program.

The OurcycleLA program was created through legislative action by the Los Angeles City Council. Approximately 2,500 salvaged computers have been refurbished through the program, and over 3,200 computer systems have been recycled. Additionally, 100 young people have been trained to refurbish computers and work on software/hardware configuration. Ten jobs have also been created through the program.