Category: Giving Back

Ways that STUG makes a difference in our community

Do you like to learn… or teach?

I’d been running my business on WordPress for years and felt comfortable with all its ins and outs. So when the call went out for a WordPress instructor I raised my hand. “I can do that.” Like I said, I was at ease with that piece of software.

I thought.

When I volunteered to teach a class, oh boy did I learn! I ended up learning as much as my students did. It was such a rewarding experience that I did another class.

If you like to learn, and/or like to teach, STUG has a place you can do so! Since 1982, the Sarasota Technology Users Group (STUG) has been a completely volunteer organization.

Many of us have learned the quickest way to become proficient in something is to teach it to others. We are always open to new topics, speakers and instructors. Get in touch with our President, Jim Cerny, at jimcerny123@gmail.com or Education Czar Bill Crowe at wtcrowe@verizon.net or 941-441-5158.

More comfortable doing research and writing on uses or aspects of current technology? We’d love to expand the Monitor with your articles if you have a love of and flair for writing. Contact Jim with your ideas.

Refurbish Group Manager Mike Hutchinson is always looking for volunteers. Think you’d like to help? This aspect of STUG is a blessing to our entire community. Learn more at https://refurbproject.org/

We hope your brain’s tick-tocking right now with something you can do to make STUG ever bigger, better, and more valuable to all of us. Remember, skill levels of our members range from “I don’t know how to turn the ‘thing’ on” to “let me show you how to disassemble and reassemble this device blindfolded, in a closet, in 27 seconds”. If you have any questions, ideas, suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at STUG.

The truth is we’re all still learning. And volunteering with STUG is a great way to learn!

This is why we do what we do…

A dozen volunteers. 25,200 refurbished computers and counting. To strengthen our community.

And you can help them continue their incredible gifts to people, young and old, who need but cannot afford a computer. The work is volunteer, but the rent, utilities, fresh batteries and needed parts come with bills due.

We love getting the thank-you notes. Wouldn’t you love helping us cover the expenses of the Refurb Project, and wouldn’t you even more, like to double your contribution whether it’s $25, $50, $75 or $100?

The Patterson Foundation will double unique contributions up to $100. If you wish to donate more, consider doing so in a family member’s name/ credit card to make the most of this generous doubling of your money.

Read about the Refurb Project @ Sarasota Tech Users Group here,
and learn about the Giving Challenge, April 15 & 16, here.
Our unique donation page is here, which will be active from noon on Wednesday April 15 to noon on April 16. 24 hours of joyous connection and community!

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!

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.”

Learning by teaching

Be a teacher for free
TRADING KNOWLEDGE WITH OTHERS IS GOOD FOR EVERYONE
Teaching an individual or a group can be fun.

It’s surprising how much you can learn by teaching something.

Here at the Sarasota Technical Users Group we offer a teaching opportunity. The classes we offer are popular and we’d like to offer more. Yes, YOU can teach… and learn by doing!

You don’t have to be an expert of anything, just share a willingness to explore with others. There are so many apps out there and so much technology others want to learn that many people are missing great learning experiences – even you!

This is the main purpose of STUG – to provide knowledge and learning opportunities using our member volunteers.

Pick a tech topic or app you are enjoying, even if there are many aspects of it you’re still exploring – and have a go at “hosting” a class. We are all volunteers and we need each other to trade our tech experiences. Will you share your experiences with others? That’s all we are asking.

Our volunteer instructors are free to teach almost anything tech-related. Our classes are on Zoom so you don’t even have to leave your home to host a class. You decide the schedule. Those attending your session will help you by asking questions – and there is nothing wrong in saying “I don’t know”. Regardless of the knowledge level, EVERYONE benefits!

Please send me an email at jimcerny123@gmail.com and let’s talk about it. We are very flexible and I would be happy to answer any questions you have and consider your ideas. Pick a topic – how about driverless cars, 3D printing, car-phone connections, using Amazon, buying airline tickets on-line, cable and free TV connections, and so much more.

What tech topics are you most interested in these days? Why not help us help others?