Contributions & Giving
A PC refurbishing lab at the Kramden Institute in NC, a local facility that reassembles new computers from working parts to distribute to those who cannot afford them.
GamersNexus actively supports a number of charities and organizations related to some of Steve’s passions outside of work. We typically support these groups by launching specific limited shirts (with 100% profit to the charity), store promo windows with percent revenue donations to the group, hardware & computer equipment donations, time donations to guest teach, and direct donations.
Primarily, the organizations we support include those dedicated to the following categories of work:
E-waste recycling
Technology education
Land preservation, especially for biking and hiking
Habitat preservation for wildlife, especially endangered
Local no-kill animal shelters
As of 2023 and across its 15 years in business, GamersNexus has donated nearing $100,000 to the groups below. We largely support local organizations that benefit our community, our employees, and locals directly. It’s also been Steve’s personal mission to eliminate wasteful packaging wherever possible. We can’t eliminate single-use plastics from every product (Solder Mats, for example, are so insulative that we need it to keep it clean), but we did eliminate them from toolkits, coasters, and many other categories. We don’t put ink on our boxes either - a decision to keep the cardboard highly recyclable. We’ve provided a detailed list of organizations we support below. Most are local, as we like to bring money back to our local and small community. We are providing this list in the hopes that some of our viewers may feel inspired to volunteer or donate to groups they feel passionate about supporting.
Photo taken at the new pollinator garden in the Cary Tree Archive, where GamersNexus’ team has planted some of the trees.
Land Conservation
Cary Tree Archive, a local group planting native species and pollinator gardens
Trees for the Triangle, a local group for the sale, planting, and distribution of trees to regions previously deforested
Umstead Coalition, a local group dedicated to the maintenance of a local State Park in NC
Triangle Off-Road Cyclists, a local group dedicated to the purchase, preservation, and building/maintenance of trails systems for hikers and bikers
Eden Reforestation Projects working to reforest previously deforested land (e.g. from charcoal mining) with native species while employing those previously below the poverty line in their local regions
The Conservation Fund, a group that conserves US at-risk wildlife habitats and forests with very low overhead
NC State Watershed, a group run by our local engineering-focused university for watershed maintenance and preservation
Snowflake, GN’s ‘CEO’, is herself a rescue kitty.
Animal Organizations
Cat Angels NC, a local no-kill cat shelter that we’ve provided substantial financial contributions and tech support to over the years to fund their adoptions and rescue programs
Adelaide Koala & Wildlife Hospital, an Australia-based animal rescue group and animal hospital that we supported with our limited Australia Hardware Hearts T-shirt (100% to charity) during the bushfires many years ago - we still actively support them for their important work in helping animals in a changing environment
Wildlife Rescue South Coast, an Australia-based wildlife rescue group and animal hospital that we supported with our limited Australia Hardware Hearts T-shirt (100% to charity) during the bushfires many years ago
Humane Society International, an animal protection group that a late viewer of ours once supported. When we learned of this, we picked up the torch
International Fund for Animal Welfare, an animal rehabilitation & rescue group
Technology
Our local Public High School’s computer engineering program - mostly through donations of equipment and retired review hardware. Our occasional PSU review contractor works full-time as a High School educator for computer engineering, networking, SAS programming, Cisco certifications, and more. We have worked to get his classroom off of decade-old hardware and onto something modern.
The Kramden Institute with a mixture of monetary and equipment donations, we support The Kramden Institute’s mission to refurbish usable computers with problems, responsibly melt-down and recycle parts that are unusable, and educate kids in its technology education classroom. Kramden has PC building, repair, and mobile repair classes for locals to learn new skillsets
We are seeking more technology organizations to support! Tweet us with ideas.
People
St. Jude Children’s Hospital, a well-established charity hospital supporting children and families in need of critical medical care. We were first invited by EVGA to donate to this group, and have made occasional donations ever since. Some of the EVGA (former) staff had a strong desire to support this group and we were touched by their dedication
Extra Life, a program of the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, dedicated to supporting sick children in need of a smile — gaming can do that. We were first inspired by Paul & Kyle (Paul’s Hardware, Bitwit) to support this group.
World Central Kitchen, a program bringing food to the displaced, unfortunate, and asylum seekers.
Daniel Toben, a local we met some years ago who works to clean trash from rivers & roadsides. We met Daniel when he found a computer on the side of the road. While not officially a charity organization, he is a one-man show working to clean thousands of pounds of trash from communities.