This nonprofit helps veterans with technology

Pahrump resident Nathaniel Miller has lived in the valley for less than two years but already, he is making a big impact on the community.

Though originally intending to bask in retirement following his move in early 2021, Miller eventually realized that he could provide a great benefit to the local veteran population by bringing his San Dimas-based nonprofit, Heroes Deserve Help, to town. Focused on providing veterans with technology they need to thrive in civilian society, Heroes Deserve Help collects used laptops, desktops, partial CPU’s, mice, keyboards and more, in addition to accepting electronic waste that residents cannot have disposed of via traditional trash service. These products are then refurbished, recycled or resold, allowing Heroes Deserve Help to assist veterans in need.

“Heroes Deserve Help has been operating in San Dimas for about eight years,” Miller told the Pahrump Valley Times this month. “And I have a gentleman who is a key man there, who runs it. When I moved here, I thought, I’m going to retire and just help him out a little with stuff. But then, some local folks I talked to said that would be a good thing to get going here. And basically, in a nut-shell, what we do is, we provide technology to veteran students, that is our main core, as well as for veteran job training and small-business start-up.”

Collaboration is vital for Heroes Deserve Help and Miller currently has an existing partnership with Great Basin College in Pahrump, where five refurbished laptops have been given to veteran students attending classes at the college, free of charge. “The college administrators were surprised that there were no strings attached!” Miller remarked. “And the veterans are always asking, ‘Is this a rental, is this a loaner?’ And we’re like, ‘No, no, it’s yours to keep,’ so they don’t have to worry about it in the future.”

Tails of Nye County is another area organization that is working with Heroes Deserve Help, with Miller detailing that he had arranged for a laptop to be donated to Tails. In exchange, Tails sometimes receives donations that can be of use to Heroes Deserve Help, which Miller has been invited to utilize.

“We try to be as self-sustaining as possible,” Miller said. “We get our e-waste or technology that we use in the program, we’ll recycle that for cash or sell it on eBay. It’s almost like a mini Goodwill, and we put all the money back into the program.”

There are all sorts of ways that area residents can contribute to the cause. Technology donations are, of course, always welcome but those who don’t have such items to give can make a monetary donation instead, or may be able to find useful things to purchase through the nonprofit’s eBay page. Businesses and other organizations can help too, by partnering with Heroes Deserve Help.

Heroes Deserve Help’s Ebay page can be found at www.ebay.com/str/heroesdeservehelp

For more information visit www.HeroesDeserveHelp.org or call Miller at 714-588-2091.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com