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After alarming returns on a survey, a local group of designers, Open Works provided desks to over 4,400 Baltimore City students.

The group began asking the city how many students were in need of desks to work on. They were alarmed to discover that over 4,000 kids were in need. Apparently the city has had so many laptops and other equipment returned because kids don’t have adequate desk space to house the equipment. With beds and couches doubling as work spaces, you can imagine that some laptops end up sliding off and breaking.

“The numbers were overwhelming. About 70 schools and communities reached out to us and that represents about 4,400 individuals,” Tiersa Sullivan, of Open Works shared. Thankfully, Open Works was able to make this a reality with some help. “Through crowdfunding as well as our sponsors CL McCoy Framing and Stanley Black and Decker, we have raised so far over $40,000,” Sullivan continued.

Sleek design is great for kids.

Each desk is easy to assemble. When I first saw the desks, it was the first thing that caught my attention.

You can imagine that the desks needed to be designed in the most cost efficient way to maximize production with the donations. They were designed by Zach Adams, a designer at Open Works. “We make them from a sheet of plywood. We have a drill bit that cuts them out that is guided by a computer and it cuts out the outline of the desk into five different parts and the outline of the stool into three,” Adams said.

The desks come with video tutorials that are easy for kids to follow along. When asked about the simple design, “mostly, to have the kids be able to experience themselves, it also reduces the cost for us and the labor involved with it so that we can make the cost to a student less,” Sullivan said.

Kudos to Open Works for taking initiative to help our kids. The pandemic has forced us all into some difficult situations, our children included. It’s great to see Open Work is here to help make the struggles a little easier to get around.

Open Works Provides Desks To Over 4,400 Maryland Students  was originally published on 92q.com