HandSmith summer camp teaches students technology, philanthropy

ROANOKE – There are summer camps for just about every child's interest and one in downtown Roanoke is teaching kids about giving back and technology.

"Everything in life is a process and you can't just give up. You need to keep working at it," said Lisa Weaver, director of HandSmith.

That's just one these students are learning this summer.

"We are learning how to build stuff, how a 3-D printer works and how to work together as a team," said  Lindsay Ramos, one of the Digital Manufacturing Camp students at the HandSmith Micro-factory.

They've made spinners and now she's working on building a gripper.

"It will actually grab things. This has a lot of different uses. This can be used for an assembly line, building things but it could be used as a prosthetic as well," said Weaver.
 
"First we had to 3-D print them. Some of them didn't come out so we're all working in a pair," said Ramos. 

The new nonprofit raises money to one day build prosthetic hands to give to people who cannot afford them.

They also want kids to learn about the process early.

"If we can get kids interested in technology,  science, building things and trying to think outside the box we think they will have a better chance to do well in the future and hopefully they are getting a sense of philanthropy and learning about helping others because the whole point of HandSmith is to help others," said Weaver.
 
Bionic prosthetics run between $50,000 to $100,000. The campers had to pay for this camp but the money is going back to the nonprofit to one day build these hands for others.

To learn more about HandSmith click here.