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Volunteers provide tech support to seniors during pandemic

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David Marrello is used to his grandparents asking him for tech help.

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Whether it’s how to print their taxes, or trying to connect with family members in Italy during the pandemic, Marrello said he’s always happy to show them how as they live under the same roof.

The 26-year-old and his brother Daniel, 23, now want to help other seniors too and have launched TechServeTO, a free service connecting less tech-savvy seniors to millennials who can provide help using smartphones and other electronic devices while in lockdown.

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“I wanted to deliver groceries to medical professionals, but I didn’t feel like I could do that because I’d be putting my parents and grandparents at risk,” Marrello said.

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“I saw my grandparents were really struggling with technology. They wanted to call Italy one day on Skype and they didn’t really know how. I thought, my grandparents are lucky because they have me around the house, but how many people who are in the 70s or 80s that really don’t have the help they need.

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“During COVID, the only way to connect with other people is frankly through technology.”

Seniors can call 1-888-418-4771 to be connected with one of TechServeTO’s 115 millennial and young adult volunteers who can troubleshoot electronics issues for them. Each volunteer has agreed to do five outreach calls, which may start off as a voice chat, but can eventually move to video chat. As of Tuesday morning, 85 seniors have called — some, repeatedly — for help, mostly from the GTA.

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“As we’re expanding, I’m trying to make it a little more dynamic — like a call centre,” said Marrello. “But that’s more of a dream and vision. Right now, we’re focused on helping as many people as we can.”

According to a 2019 StatsCan survey, 71% of seniors aged 65 and older use the Internet, however, according to Techcrunch, of those who use the Internet, “nearly half say they need someone else’s help to set up or use a new digital device.”

The most common problem is Wi-Fi issues but, he said, syncing iCloud across devices also proves “quite tricky.”

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Marrello, who is a software investor, said technological literacy is accentuated by the current crisis.

“About 25% of seniors live alone,” he said.

“The oldest boomer is 76 and as they start to age to older adults, they need the help and that’s a huge demographic. During COVID, being able to do a Skype call with your family, that could be life-changing for people.”

jyuen@postmedia.com

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