Looking For Something To Do In March April?

The second annual Southern Maryland GiveCamp will be held on March 25 April 1, 2011. Once again, it will occur on the campus of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. One of a number of GiveCamps that occur around the country, this one will benefit several non-profits of all stripes in the Southern Maryland area.

Maryland's original State House in St. Mary's City

The concept behind GiveCamp is simple and elegant: “GiveCamp is a weekend-long event where software developers, designers, and database administrators donate their time to create custom software for non-profit organizations.”

Last year’s event drew volunteers from up and down the East Coast. The organizers are still looking for volunteers for this year’s event. As a lifelong resident of Southern Maryland, I’d like to encourage my colleagues in the software development community, especially in the greater DC area, to consider coming down in March to lend a hand.

Having spoken to a few people that participated last year, I understand that requirements ranged from simple to rather challenging. Regardless of the complexity of a requirement to those of us who develop software professionally, the value of a working web site or database or other such thing to a small organization with limited resources cannot be overstated.

And if Southern Maryland is a bit far for you but you like the concept, there may be a GiveCamp in your area.

Thanks to Jim Pendarvis and the rest of the planning committee for putting this together.