GiveCamp aids nonprofits' tech needs

Organizers of the second annual Southwest Ohio GiveCamp plan a slight expansion over last year's event where more than 100 volunteers met for a weekend to tackle area non-profit tech needs.

"We hope to have more people involved this year," says co-organizer Ryan Cromwell, a Dayton area software developer. "We also extended our nonprofit registration until the end of the month, and we are hoping to get 11 or 12 nonprofits involved. We had 10 last year."

The Southwest Ohio Give camp is part of GiveCamp.org, a national volunteer initiative of technology professionals founded in 2007. Since its beginnings, GiveCamp has donated more than $1 million in services to more than 150 charities and other nonprofits nationwide.

Volunteers last year created websites from scratch, rebranded organizations, set up email networks and created an online auction site.

"We did just about anything you can think of," Cromwell says.

Last year's nonprofits and volunteers came from Northern Kentucky, Greater Cincinnati, Dayton and Oxford. Participating nonprofits included Civic Garden Center, Diabetes Dayton, Hamilton Living Water Ministry and Seton Family Center.

Southwest Ohio GiveCamp is in the process of selecting this year's nonprofits, which have until Aug. 30 to submit proposals for consideration. The GiveCamp is looking for projects that can be completed within a weekend. Nonprofits and volunteers can register here.

This year's GiveCamp will be Oct. 21-23 at the Miami University Voice of America Learning Center in West Chester.

By Feoshia Henderson

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