During his too-brief life, Jesse's contributions to the local and global community were immeasurable: from the countless hours he volunteered at schools and businesses in Lexington, to the many individuals whose technology "emergencies" he solved, to the innumerable late nights posting on forums and participating in Second Life, his passion was exemplified - that all who knew him would somehow benefit from his knowledge. And that all who knew him would be touched by his gifts of not only computer expertise but also contagious enthusiasm and laughter.
Jesse was 17 years old. In one of the many posts the online community made in his honor, this one truly reveals Jesse's reach: “Jesse was a techie's techie. A geek's geek. Hungry for knowledge. Willing and able to learn. Kind and generous, enthusiastic and thoughtful, he was (even at his age) a poster child for the open source philosophy, and a supporter of public ideals such as Creative Commons. Jesse seemed to be virtually indefatigable when it came to help and assistance of others, and to the application of technology for the assistance of others. In twenty years, he likely would have been better known than the likes of Linus Torvalds or Alan Cox.”
The work his family and friends continue in his honor focuses not only on technology but also on many other projects we feel exemplify Jesse's spirit of giving. The Trust has no paid staff: our work is done by ourselves, our volunteers and with the generous assistance of others.
- the Mindtriggerz Project refurbishes donated computers and gives them to children who could not otherwise afford them
- the Dunbar Memorial Garden is an all-native plant garden created at Jesse's High School. Jesse was involved in the planning stages of the garden in 2006 as students mourned the loss of a classmate who had committed suicide
- the Jesse Higginbotham Scholarship is given to a deserving student at Dunbar High School who is either pursuing continued education in the field of technology or who exemplifies a commitment to helping others through social activism and community service
- in conjunction with Dunbar's school newspaper, the Trust also gives an Award each year to a student on staff who, like Jesse, assists in the technological aspect of the "Lamplighter"
- a "Best Community Influence" Award is given to graduating Seniors who have worked diligently with us at the garden
- the Jesse Higginbotham Technology Trust, through Kentucky's "Adopt A Highway" program, sponsors regular cleanups along the Versailles Road corridor at the site of Jesse's accident
- our Board of Director's adopted a “Year-Round Plan for Giving” to encourage and engage our supporters and volunteers to work together to help our community and other local nonprofits. A “bakeoff” in December provided homebaked desserts to area food shelters and in January & February we collected wish list items for two crisis shelters. In March we collected donated children's books literacy items and gave them to local deserving youth at a Book Festival held at Valley Park. Future plans will be posted on our website and Facebook Page
- our collaboration with the Valley Park Activity Board and the Cardinal Valley Elementary PTA to promote safe, healthy, educational activities for our local youth is instrumental in trying to help the neighborhood reduce crime among our young people and their families
- plans are underway to create satellite versions of the Mindtriggerz Project in an effort to make free computers available to children across the state of Kentucky. We are currently researching partnerships with concerned parties and school technology clubs and organizations