The West Suburban Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation will team up with Lyons Township High School (LTHS) for its annual computer recycling drive on May 17.

Area residents and business owners may bring used electronic equipment to the LTHS South Campus, 4900 S. Willow Springs Road, La Grange, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. The equipment, which may include everything from computers to televisions to cell phones, will then be recycled domestically in Illinois.

“It’s a huge thing,” said Bob Ware, executive director of the West Suburban Chamber. “If it’s electronic in nature, we’d like to have it.”

Computer equipment that is not reusable will be recycled by SIMS Recycling, with hard drives shredded to protect personal information. If chosen for reuse, the equipment will be wiped of its memory by the LTHS computer department.

“The students will clean the memory off the computer, and then they’ll make it back into a useable computer for somebody else,” said Ware. “This allows students to gain knowledge on how to repair computers.”

Many of the cell phones will go to battered women shelters and to the elderly. In some cases, the phone will be re-programmed to only dial 911, for those living alone and in need of immediate assistance.

There is no charge for this recycling service, but cash donations, which can be used as a tax write-off, will be accepted. The donations will offset the costs of the program as well as act as a fundraiser for the foundation.

“Our foundation turns this money into activities,” Ware said. “This year we’ve already had a major job exposition (funded by the money from last year’s program) where we were able to show students about careers. That turned out as a very successful activity.”