What happens when 100 computer programmers cram into one room in the Impression 5 Science Center for an entire weekend? As it turns out 13 local non-profits was away with between $100,000 and $200,000 worth of web development services for free.
“We like to call it a geek lock-in,” says Jeff McWherter who, along with his wife Carla McWherter, helps organize the two-day event called
Give Camp. “All
the people had a great time. The non-profits loved what we were able to do, and many of them walked away saying there was no way they’d be able to afford something like this.”
The idea behind Give Camp began four years ago in Texas, and McWherter himself became involved when the program came to Ann Arbor. Since then the annual event has grown both in locations across the country and in impact to the Lansing area.
“We brought Give Camp to Lansing in the spring of 2009,” McWherter says. That year the estimated amount of
donated labor was $50,000, making this year’s estimate double to quadruple that amount in just three years.
Time and talent aren’t the only local investment making Give Camp an annual success. McWherter says more than a dozen local businesses donated $6,000 in sponsorships and in-kind donations for the event, including his company, Gravity Works.
Source: Jeff McWherter, Give Camp
Writer: Natalie Burg, News Editor
All Photographs © Dan Hogan
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