Retired 'tech fairy' helps connect people with technology for free
TAMPA, Fla. - A Bay Area man who was bored after retiring from a corporate job in computers is using his spare time to help others with technology.
Craig Clark, 76, has a long list of people he's given computers to for free and he tries to capture a snapshot of each one.
"I have pictures of 465…and there's probably another 30 or 40 that I don't have pictures of. So right at 500 probably," which is amazing in the grand scheme of things," stated Clark.
Clark is a retired ‘corporate computer geek’. He started this adventure 10 years ago and calls it "Tech Fairy."
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"I do not know how to do nothing, so I'm the world's worst retiree. I don't watch television. I don't read books. I have to have a challenge in front of me constantly. And I love fixing computers," Clark added.
ICraig Clark a.k.a. 'Tech Fairy' fixes computers and gives them to people in need.
This ‘Pied Piper of Good Deeds’ searches high and low for folks who need a computer like Terron, a cook at a local restaurant who just graduated from a technical college. He needed an expensive computer he couldn't afford.
"That makes me feel great. Yeah, to be able to do something," said Clark. "Save that man a lot of money. He's a wonderful guy. Smart, capable, charming. All the things that I pretend to be. But I'm not really," he said.
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Families like the Servetz's see beyond Clark’s modesty. He's helped connect their family with technology.
"As a single mom of four young kids. It was very helpful for Jade once we were learning at home during COVID and Craig was there without any problem, he jumped to it and said, ‘Of course, I'll give your daughter a computer for school,’" Melissa Servetz said.
Clark gave Melissa Servetz's daughter a computer to use while she was learning at home during the pandemic.
It’s a labor of love that he truly enjoys.
"It is driven by the fact that I really like to fix computers. I like solving problems, like sitting here and saying, can I figure this out? Drives me crazy when I can't. But most of the time I can. And then I am obviously delighted to have the fruit of that labor really benefit somebody," Clark said.
It's a benefit that connects lives for a better future.
Anyone interested in donating a computer to Clark can reach him at tech-fairy1@outlook.com.