Comcast Launches WiFi-Connected “Lift Zone” in Partnership with the Charleston Digital Corridor Learning Center
Comcast provides $25,000 grant to support Charleston Digital Corridor’s Learning Center
Comcast announced today the opening of its newest “Lift Zone” at the Charleston Digital Corridor (CDC) Learning Center, located inside the Charleston Tech Center, at 997 Morrison Drive, Suite 200 in Charleston. Powered by Comcast, Lift Zones offer free high-speed Internet in places where communities can learn digital skills and pursue academic, professional and personal advancement.
“We appreciate Comcast’s longstanding partnership and dedication to expanding digital equity in the Charleston community,” said Ernest Andrade, Executive Director at Charleston Digital Corridor. “Comcast’s Lift Zone designation at the CDC Learning Center will have an immediate impact on Charleston residents as the center will provide free, fast and reliable WiFi to our members and provide access to critical digital resources.”
The new Lift Zone was also awarded a $25,000 grant for the development and promotion of the CDC’s Learning Center. Over the last four years, Comcast has donated more than $80,000 to the CDC to support and improve economic mobility in Charleston through digital skills training. Additionally, Comcast donated 25 laptops to students at C.E. Williams Middle School.
“Comcast’s commitment to Charleston’s workforce readiness over the years has had an enormous impact on our community,” said Charleston Mayor William S. Cogswell Jr. “I’m pleased to join the community in celebrating with Comcast today as they commemorate the opening of the newest Lift Zone at Charleston Digital Corridor’s Learning Center.”
The Lift Zones program is part of Comcast’s Project UP – a comprehensive initiative to advance digital equity and build a future of unlimited possibilities. Comcast has launched more than 1,250 WiFi-connected Lift Zones in community centers nationwide.
“Comcast remains committed to bridging the digital divide and connecting our communities by providing free WiFi access through the Lift Zone initiative,” said Mike McArdle, Comcast Regional Senior Vice President. “We are proud to continue to invest in the Charleston community by expanding access to digital tools and technologies at the Charleston Digital Corridor Learning Center.”
Lift Zones complement Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, the nation’s largest and most successful private-sector low-income broadband adoption program. For more than a decade, Comcast has worked with trusted community partners, businesses and government to help millions of households connect to the Internet and the technology they need to participate in the digital world. Since launching in 2011, Internet Essentials has connected more than 10 million people to the Internet at home, many for the very first time.