Author: Kate

Working hard, learning lots.

Doubling your money…

The Giving Challenge is a community-based online giving event inspiring donors and citizen philanthropists to learn more about the nonprofits and causes in Southwest Florida they care about most.

Frequently-Asked Questions

What’s it all about? The Giving Challenge is a 24-hour online fundraising event hosted by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, connecting hundreds of local nonprofits with donors across Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties. The 2026 event runs noon April 15 through noon April 16, and thanks to The Patterson Foundation, donations between $25 and $100 are matched 1:1. It’s a great chance to double your impact for STUG!

What will you do with the donations? We will be fulfilling the mission of our Refurb Group. You know, those dedicated volunteers who refurbish computers for the community? The Group that has given over 25,000 computers to all aspects of Sarasota County and its neighbors. Read more about this incredible part of STUG.

Do we have to donate a specific amount? Any amount is welcome, but to qualify for matching funds, grants, and prizes, the minimum is $25, and donations must be made online.* Feel free to choose an amount meaningful to you — $92 because that’s the year you arrived in our area? The Patterson Foundation will double any donation in the $25–$100 range. If you’d like to give more than $100, having a spouse or family member donate separately will maximize the match.

How much is this costing STUG? The credit-card fee of 6% is deducted from all contributions, which pays for the processing of your gift. (So if you’d like to donate, say, $53 so STUG gets the full $50, that would be terrific!)

How has STUG gotten the word out? We’ve sent broadcast emails to all members, posted on our website, and promoted the event on Facebook. The real cost is the time and talent our volunteers have put in — and we hope you’ll spend a few minutes spreading the word too (read on…)

How can I help?  In addition to any donation you choose to make, you can help spread the word to those you know. If you maintain a personal, club, residents or business email list, that’s a great place to spread the word. If you are active in on-line forums or discussion groups, on Facebook or X or LinkedIn, there’s more folks you can alert.

But I can’t ask friends to give money to my causes! You don’t have to! They can donate to one or many of the 700 local causes participating, but of course we hope you’ll make STUG the first item in your “gift basket.”
All you have to do is ask your on-line acquaintances to visit, between noon Wednesday and noon Thursday (Yes, for you night owls: you can visit in your jammies at 3 a.m. if that’s your bag), our profile page at The Giving Partner.

Is donating on-line safe? Ultra-safe. The Giving Partner uses state-of-the-art security. If you’d still rather donate in person, stop by the Refurb Shop either morning — a STUG Board member will be happy to help.

Is my donation tax-deductible? Yes, 100%.

Will my name get on a list? The only people who will ever see your email address will be us, and that’s so we can acknowledge your gift. The foundations and the financial processing service cannot see your address. And we, of course, never reveal, rent or sell your email to anyone. Never have, never will.

I’m not available on April 15 until late. Is it worth my while to donate that night or the next morning? Anytime during the 24 hours, from noon on April 15 through until noon on April 16, the Giving Challenge is active and your donation up to $100 will be doubled.

Such good folks!

After retiring, many of our fellow citizens here in the Sarasota/Manatee area volunteer, putting their past experience to work for the good of others. Such are the crew of our Refurb Group here at Sarasota Tech Users Group.

Their good work is often noted by the media, such as today’s article in The Observer.

We send our thanks, along with thanks from the recipients of those  25,415 refurbished devices, to Anda S, Bill Crowe, Bruce C, Chuck W, Doug Weiss, Garth H, Kathy K, Randy T, Sandy M, Mike Hutchinson and most especially, Saul Lowitt!

And you can thank them too by participating in April’s Giving Challenge, which comes along only once every two years and is a major source of funds for batteries, parts, and more at the Refurb Group.

PS Did you hear? The HELP DESK is now open even longer hours!

Fabulous Fabrication: Fab Lab

Our email and Facebook notice graphic, ICYMI. Remember to open your member emails and follow us on Facebook.

The first bit of education came about while we were waiting for our STUG field trip to start. Looking around, I said to Board Director Prabhav Govindu “Wow, this really IS fabulous!” He agreed but said “It’s really Fabrication Lab”.

Which made total total sense during our hour-and-a-half tour he took members on. Laser cutting machines for wood and metal. Vinyl cutting machines and printers and a giant press iron for embellishing T-shirts. Classrooms for elementary and middle school students to learn STEAM lessons.

Prabhav showing the group a middle-school project as well as a marble slab engraved onsite.

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. (They added the A to the original STEM in response to feedback saying education in STEM is great, but blending technical subjects with arts (visual arts, music, design, humanities) will encourage creative thinking.

Ten STUG members enjoying their “field trip” to Suncoast Science Center.

The 3D printers were a fascinating attraction. There’s also a full woodworking room, classrooms full of craft materials for the youngest students, and take-home science kits, delivered and retrieved by Fab Lab volunteers to public and private schools and even homeschooler events.

A gracious and knowledgeable guide fielding questions right and left.

Best news for our members? Supporting Suncoast Science Center with your membership also allows you to use any of their equipment by appointment, free instructions and guides as needed. Here’s where to become a member.

Our first STUG field trip was a great success! Where shall we make tracks to next time? Comment below.

A new event! Remember field trips?

Well, STUG is offering one for its members on Saturday February 28 at 2PM. It’s a trip to the future… read on. Hope to see you there. Keep reading…

Didn’t you love field trips when you were just a little tyke? Here’s our newest educational offering, and I dunno about YOU but I want to see all the cool stuff that will be just normal everyday stuff in the future. Join us!

Step into the Future
Saturday Feb 28 at 2PM
Suncoast Science Center/Faulhaber Fab Lab

Our youngest Board Director, Prabhav Govindu, will be there to explain it all! Members only, free but donations to Fab Lab accepted. Meet 5 or 10 minutes before in the parking lot at 4452 S Beneva Road (bet. Bee Ridge & Proctor Roads). The entrance to Fab Lab is at the BACK of the building

25,000 and more!

What a way to celebrate the end of 2025 and look forward to 2026! The head of our Refurbishing Project, Mike Hutchinson, sent a modest little email to the Sarasota Tech Users Group board saying

“The Refurb Project passed  25,000 computers refurbished last week.”

Now, I think that’s worth some fireworks, don’t you? The STUG Refurb Project began renovating computers in February 2004. Now, in 2026, over 25,000 computers have been donated to our community. Recipients include disadvantaged school children, low-income adults/seniors, individuals in recovery programs and others trying to emerge from homelessness or other problems. In 2013 the program was expanded to provide computers directly to students in the Sarasota County school system.

The Refurb Project works with directly with many local non-profits. Counselors from these organizations identify those in need and coordinate getting the computers to the individuals. The Children’s Guardian Fund is one that the Refurbishing Project works very closely with to get the computers into the hands of area foster youth.

To give you an idea of just how much 25,000 computers are: They would weigh more than a herd of full-grown elephants!

 Credit Corey Favino / Elephant Family USA and Newport Restoration Foundation

But more important than what they weigh, these 25,000 refurbished machines mean:

25,000 second chances at digital access
25,000 fewer computers in landfills
25,000 doors opened to education, jobs, and connection

More computing power than existed in the entire world in the 1970s, refurbished by a small group of volunteers and supported by donations of devices and operating funds by our community.

Read more about Refurb and how you can help.

In memoriam: Marshall K. Dubois

“It is with such sadness that we have learned that Marshall DuBois passed away shortly after his 83rd birthday this month.

Marshall’s Facebook Profile Picture, 2011


“Marshall’s member number in STUG was 9. He was a force in his passionate love for his STUG family and the US Navy. With his knowledge of technology, which was vast, he was our Internet specialist and managed our website. I used to think he had invented technology since he had been using it from its inception.

“To me, Marshall was a mentor. He always arrived early to our STUG board meetings and sat on my left. He would whisper to me if I forgot to mention something important. We often had dinner together until about a year ago when I would invite him over to Bay Village. He would say, “I’ll get back with you.” But, he never did. I knew that he was failing. As he was practically our oldest living member, I had given him the job of Historian when he backed away from being our Webmaster. That was probably the only job in his life that he didn’t take seriously!

“On top of everything else that he was, Marshall was kind, abundantly funny and always interesting to be around. There are many who will miss him dearly. I am just one of them. Rest in peace, my dear friend.”
a message from Ann Ross, Outgoing President STUG Board of Directors

“You can say all you want about Marshal’s love/enthusiasm of technology, STUG, helping others, his Navy service, etc. — it’s all true.

Our “Founding Fathers”: L to R, Phil Sorrentino, Marshall DuBois, and Saul Lowitt

“Most important to me was his ALWAYS kindness, his fun sense of humor, his laugh, and his eyes that always told you he knew more (or hinted at wanting to tell more humorous stuff) than he was divulging at the time. Oh, and underneath it all, he was a very wise man. I am sad we lost so much with his passing!”
a memory from Jim Cerny, our incoming President of STUG

Board member Peter Schneider wrote: “Marshall was so helpful to me on many occasions when I got involved with STUG 12 or 13 years ago. He gave so much to the organization and was SO knowledgeable.”

Volunteer Kate Holmes wrote: “Marshall was always so cheerful and positive. I always looked forward to any occasion to see him in person. I’m sure those of you in STUG who knew him better feel the loss even more keenly. His birthday was Christmas Eve, and he was as perky as one of Santa’s elves, but he never sat on the shelf, always busy and helpful.”

Family Gathering? Try this.

It’s December 25 right now, and without responsibility for the Christmas feast, I was reading my emails. Came across this tip from Kim Komando and thought I’d test it out for you:

Use your Voice Memo app to interview the oldest person in the room. Ask them one question: “What was the one gift you wanted most when you were 10 years old?”
The tech genius move: Once you’ve recorded the answer, use an AI tool like Otter.ai or ChatGPT (upload the audio) to transcribe it. Then, ask the AI: “Write a short, heartwarming story based on this memory in the style of a classic Christmas book.” The result: You can print the story out or email it to the whole family. You’ve turned a fleeting, three-minute conversation into a family heirloom that will be read for years.

So I used the voice memo app on my iPhone, told the story of what I wanted most at twelve. Then I transcribed it in that same app (3-dot menu in upper right), then copied it (an offered choice) and pasted it into ChatGPT (by pressing for a long time in the query box) and asked Chat what Kim, above, suggested. (I’m giving you more detailed steps, ’cause Kim sometimes thinks I know how to do something, that I don’t.)

Then I copied the AI-generated story and added it to a holiday template in PicMonkey (you can use Canva if you choose). Adjusted the template, pasted in the text, edited a bit, and played around with fonts and line spacing to have it fit nicely.

Result: a one-sheet graphic to save, send to family, or print out as a Christmas story.

Try this process if you write a New Year’s family letter sharing what happened this past year!

Here’s my story:

Click to see the letter larger.