STEM Connection Full STEAM Ahead
Foundation for Veterans Continues Driving Outreach into Homes
by Abigail Baker
New York, New York: This week the Lift and Shift Foundation expanded their Learning Series with an installment created to reach veterans isolated at home during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The program is coined Lift and Shift Learning Series | SparkFun Devices, and stemmed from an initial partnership with MasterClass. Today, SparkFun provided a small sponsorship to support a limited series of workshops. The result? Arduino-based kits specifically to alumni of Wounded Warrior Project®, as well as their family members. The kits are part of an easy-to-use, open-source electronics platform.
For Lift and Shift Founder Tom Smoot, technology based assistance is not unfamiliar territory. “I just really love to build things, and Wounded Warrior Project® has given me the opportunity to thrive in so many ways.” Smoot said. “When my kids came to visit NYC, they checked off this American bucket list item. They had an up close view of the Thanksgiving Day parade. Teaming up with them and SparkFun to share my passion with veterans is honestly more than I could ask for.”
This short-term, ever-growing program started in lockdown, when most Americans were feeling isolated and disconnected. For veterans of the US military, this is nothing new.
As a veteran with PTSD himself, Tom is an ideal mentor to connect with veterans. Wounded Warrior Project® alumni will be able to connect with him online, for hands-on projects with SparkFun Devices.
The Lift and Shift Learning Series is an expanding initiative focused on deploying in-home activities to an online environment. For veterans participating in Lift and Shift programs, this brings back some small sense of normalcy.
Sometimes a small sense of normalcy can be all it takes to help a veteran feel at home again.
The Lift and Shift Learning Series is available to US military veterans affiliated with the Lift and Shift Foundation, and the SparkFun devices initiative is only possible due to the support of Wounded Warrior Project®. For more information, connect with Tom Smoot, Founder at tom@weliftandshift.org.
About Lift and Shift Foundation: Founded in 2017, Lift and Shift Foundation advocates for veteran inclusion in science and technology through programs that educate and build confidence. Their Battle of the Bots veteran outreach doubles as a standalone family support program, based on collaborative challenge events and an easy-to-learn STEAM robotics platform.
About SparkFun: Since 2003, SparkFun has been helping turn ideas into reality — whether you’re creating a smart weather station, exploring the frontier of machine learning, building a robot for school or prototyping your first (or tenth) product. No matter your vision or skill level, our open source components, resources and online tutorials are designed to broaden access to innovative technology and make the road to a finished project shorter.
