Family and friends are mourning the loss of 20-year-old Ben Huppe, a West Seattle resident and 2010 graduate of Garfield High School where he helped start a non-profit that brings technology to underdeveloped nations.

According to a Seattle Times article about the young humanitarian, Huppe died in a single car accident in Kitsap County on Saturday morning, July 14 after his vehicle left the road, went down and embankment and crashed into a tree. Troopers believe he may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Huppe was a founding member of Technology Services Corps (TSC), a non-profit “that engages youth in technology-oriented service projects, including working in teams to refurbish used computers, to install them in underserved areas around the world, and to teach the recipients in the use and maintenance of the computers.”

In a tribute to their fallen leader, Sarah Johnson of TSC wrote that Ben Huppe “was a founding student board member of Technology Services Corps, helping to bring the organization into existence in 2008 and, since then, playing an instrumental role in its evolution. Ben served in a leadership role on three TSC trips – Guatemala (2009), Ecuador (2009), and India (2010) – preparing computers in the US, installing them in school labs in underserved areas, befriending students overseas, and serving as a mentor to countless Garfield High School students also engaged in these and other service technology trips.

“Separate from his ‘hands-on’ work with students and computers on these trips, Ben played a huge role in guiding and challenging the TSC board. With both patience and firmness, he set high standards for himself, others, and the organization. He tended to the mission of the organization and tirelessly created opportunities for other Garfield students to participate in and be forever changed, as he had been, by the experience of engaging in international service work.

“TSC would not be what it is today without the focus, optimism, diligence and passion of Ben. He will be sorely missed by all and will forever serve as a beacon to those continuing the work of the organization.”

For more information on Technology Services Corps, including donation information, please check out their website.