The inaugural Southwest Ohio GiveCamp was held October 22-24 at the Miami University Voice of America Learning Center in West Chester. GiveCamp is a nationwide effort bringing together a community of volunteers to donate their time and talents to build the technical resources and capacity of local non-profit organizations. Since its inception in 2007, the GiveCamp program has provided benefits to well over 150 charities.
During weekend-long GiveCamps, software developers, designers, database administrators, and other technology professionals create web and software solutions for non-profit organizations. The only limitation is the project should be scoped to be able to be completed in a weekend by a team of 4-5 professionals.
The approximately sixty-five volunteers at the inaugural Southwest Ohio GiveCamp supported ten charities by supplying over 1200 hours of volunteer labor throughout the weekend. The solutions developed by the teams would have cost the charities between $8,000 and $12,000 without the support of volunteers.
The charities supported by the Southwest Ohio GiveCamp included:
- John 15:12 Ministries
- Seton Family Center
- Elementz Youth Art Center
- Diabetes Dayton
- Hamilton Living Water Ministries
- End Slavery Cincinnati
- Civic Garden Center
- Working In Neighborhoods (Volunteer Hours Registration System)
- Dayton Battle of the Businesses (Team Registration System)
- Postsecondary Education Collaborative
Eric Schwartz 