Through his Why Not? Foundation, Rockets star Russell Westbrook is purchasing 650 laptop computers to help better facilitate online learning for children in Houston who are no longer able to physically attend school due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Schools in Houston are closed indefinitely amid the outbreak, with lessons shifting online. However, in what’s become known as the “digital divide,” many students and their families did not have the home infrastructure or technology to immediately make the transition.
That’s where a new initiative from the nine-time NBA All-Star and former league MVP comes in. At a Monday press conference with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, the 31-year-old Westbrook explained:
I’m extremely excited to be able to collaborate with Comp-U-Dopt and find ways to be able to impact the youth immediately. It’s something that I’m very, very passionate about through my foundation, and I’m just trying to find a way — especially now — to be able to bridge the gap, and give kids access to another way of learning, through computers. This allows them to be able to continue their education, especially from home. I’m happy to be a part of it.
A complete video of Westbrook’s comments can be viewed below.
In the Houston area’s 10 largest school districts, about 9% of households — nearly 142,650 — do not have a computer, according to U.S. Census estimates. Nearly twice that number — about 267,250 households — lack broadband internet access, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Westbrook is also assisting his hometown of Los Angeles amid the COVID-19 pandemic with a recent donation to the Angeleno Fund.
