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Cleveland GiveCamp 2014 - 5th Year!

Blog Date
Author(s)
Julie Smith
Kevin F. Smith
Michael N. Smith
Stuart O. Smith, Jr.
Tags
Cleveland
Technology
GiveCamp
Nonprofit
Volunteering

Cleveland GiveCamp 2014 - 5th Year!
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The fifth annual Cleveland GiveCamp took place over the weekend of July 18-20, 2014, at LeanDog and Burke Lakefront Airport. In 2010, the first year there was a GiveCamp in Cleveland, our tech and design community set a record for having the largest first-time GiveCamp in the nation. Today, Cleveland GiveCamp (@CleGiveCamp) has grown to be one of the largest (possibly the largest) GiveCamps in the United States.

This blog post will share the involvement of Mike, Kevin and Stuart Smith, plus links to resources shared during the weekend, and links to other blogs about the weekend. We highly recommend reading through the tweets from the event, since they will give you a taste of the weekend. If you have never participated in a GiveCamp, we highly recommend volunteering your talent to help local nonprofits. It is a lot of hard work, and more fun than you would imagine!

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Yes, people do camp at Cleveland GiveCamp!Thank you, 2014 Cleveland GiveCamp sponsors!Team Z (the food team) plan for the weekendGreat views of USS Cod submarine & Cleveland skyline from the LeanDog boatView of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame from the LeanDog boatCleveland GiveCamp tent city at Burke Lakefront AirportFurther expansion of LeanDog boat is in progressTreat time!! Free East Coast Original Frozen Custard for all!The USS Cod submarineSunset as seen from LeanDog boatVictory! 21 projects completed! Dollar value: $525,317.82! Fun and Experience: Priceless!

Here is the list of 21 charities which received FREE tech support over the weekend:

  1. Canalway Partners (@CanalwayCLE)
  2. Cleveland Disc Association (@CDA_info)
  3. Computers Assisting People Inc. (@ClevelandCAP)
  4. Domestic Violence & Child Advocacy Center (@DVCAC)
  5. Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute (@EdwinsCLE)
  6. Emerald Development & Economic Network, Inc. (EDEN) (@Eden_CLE)
  7. Engage! Cleveland (@EngageCleveland)
  8. Euclid Symphony (@EuclidSymphony)
  9. For the Love of Pits (@4theloveofpits)
  10. Galen Foundation (@PBeatingCancer)
  11. Lake Erie Ink: a writing space for youth (@LakeErieInk)
  12. Lakewood Alive (@LakewoodAlive)
  13. Lorain County Habitat for Humanity
  14. Nature Center at Shaker Lakes (@ShakerLakes)
  15. Reaching Heights (@ReachingHtsOH)
  16. South Street Ministries
  17. Suicide Prevention Education Alliance
  18. The Portage Foundation (@PortageFound)
  19. University Settlement (@USettlement)
  20. West Side Community House (@TheWSCH)
  21. Zygote Press Inc (@zygotepress)

 

Mike Smith - Computers Assisting People Team

Computers Assisting People Team
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Computers Assisting People (CAP) Inc. © 2014, Photo Al Bell

See more of the official Cleveland GiveCamp photos
by Kevin Dutkiewicz and Al Bell.

This was Mike's fourth Cleveland GiveCamp, having had to miss 2013 due to a conflict. Since Mike attended the first Cleveland GiveCamp, he now finds it interesting that, at a young age, he is one of the more senior GiveCamp tech volunteers.

As in past years, Mike arrived early (with Kevin and Stuart) to help set up the room for the 200+ volunteer welcome meeting, and carry in food for the weekend. When he arrived, however, most of the setup had already occurred, and the Smiths were only needed to assist in bringing in the food. The advantage of this being the fifth year is that Cleveland GiveCamp is now a very well-oiled machine, with plenty of volunteers available for assisting with set-up, and providing technical and design resources.

On Friday night, Mike was assigned to work on the Computers Assisting People - "CAP" (CapInc.org - @ClevelandCAP) new WordPress website. CAP is a 501(c)3 non-profit Ohio corporation formed in 1997 to prepare computers to be donated to local charities. It started a few years before that as a project of the Greater Cleveland PC Users Group (@GCPCUG).

An interesting connection for Mike is that he attended a meeting of the Greater Cleveland PC Users Group Hardware SIG at CAP with the Boy Scouts many years ago. At this meeting, the Scouts learned how computers were refurbished by CAP volunteers for local charities.

Here is a video from Dan Hanson (@DanHanson) that tells more about CAP's mission.

Here is the Computers Assisting People at Cleveland GiveCamp video from the closing ceremony:

Here is Cleveland GiveCamp CAP Team Leader Howard Pearce video from Dan Hanson (@DanHanson):

Kevin Smith - Social Media Team

In the early years of Cleveland GiveCamp, the Social Media Team had a crucial role in helping to promote the event to potential volunteers and nonprofit recipients. Their work helped make Cleveland GiveCamp the large enterprise it is today.

This team also provides communication during the Cleveland GiveCamp weekend, recognizing volunteers and promoting the charities being served. This was Kevin's second year serving as a member of the Cleveland GiveCamp Social Media Team. In 2013, when his brother was not able to attend, Kevin decided to come on out and see where he could help. He had such a good time helping #CleGC trend on Twitter, and posting Facebook photos, that he said that he just had to participate again in 2014.

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Kevin preparing balloons for each teamKevin with balloons for each GiveCamp teamSocial Media Team balloon. Balloons were used to indicate team locations

In addition to his promotional duties on Cleveland GiveCamp's Twitter @CleGiveCamp and Facebook accounts, Kevin took on an additional role this year. He used video-editing software to create the official GiveCamp video using photos/video taken by social media team members Kevin Dutkiewicz and Al Bell. Here is the Take A Walk Through Cleveland GiveCamp 2014 video:

 

Stuart Smith - Steering Committee/Nature Center at Shaker Lakes Team

Nature Center at Shaker Lakes Team
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The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes © 2014, Kevin Dutkiewicz

See more of the official Cleveland GiveCamp photos
by Kevin Dutkiewicz and Al Bell.

This was Stuart's fifth Cleveland GiveCamp, and his fourth year on the Steering Committee for the event. In the weeks leading up to the event, Stuart assisted with promoting the event via social media, and updating the content on the Cleveland GiveCamp WordPress website: ClevelandGiveCamp.org

On Saturday, Stuart joined the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes Team in building an e-commerce site using Drupal's Commerce Kickstart. One of the great things for Stuart in attending GiveCamp each year is the chance to work as part of a team. This gives him an opportunity to not only use what he knows, but more importantly, to learn new web development/design techniques from others on the team. Stuart is already using some of what he learned from his team in his job as website director at Notre Dame College.

The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes new e-commerce website will be used seasonally, when they have their annual plant sale. Watch for it via their main website, ShakerLakes.org, and follow them on Twitter at @ShakerLakes for more information about their year-round programs.

On Sunday, after the GiveCamp closing ceremony and clean-up, Stuart took his sons Kevin and Mike out to dinner at a local restaurant to celebrate. One of Stuart's real joys this year is how proud he is of all the work his sons did at Cleveland GiveCamp 2014.

Thank you, Dan Hanson (@DanHanson), for this video of
Nature Center at Shaker Lakes at Cleveland GiveCamp closing ceremony

Other GiveCamps

GiveCamp is a national movement to help charities across our country. Here are some tweets from other GiveCamps who sent positive messages to Cleveland GiveCamp. For those volunteers that did not get enough of the GiveCamp experience in Cleveland, we suggest that you check out the dates of "camps" in other cities.

Stuart created this year a new Twitter list of other GiveCamps around the country. Please let us know if you participate in any of these other camps by leaving a comment below, or connecting with Stuart on Twitter at @sos_jr.

Resources

Cleveland GiveCamp 2014 - 5th Year!

Here is a list of resources that Stuart saw shared via twitter and by teams over the weekend:


Thank You, Sponsors & Volunteers!

Thank you, sponsors & volunteers!
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Thank You Cleveland Give Camp Sponsors - ©2014, Photo Al Bell

See more of the official Cleveland GiveCamp photos
by Kevin Dutkiewicz and Al Bell.

One of the real powers of Cleveland's GiveCamp is that with over 220 professionals volunteering, there is a huge wealth of talent available. Everyone works as one big team to ensure that all 21 individual teams' projects succeed.

The weekend would not have been possible without the very hard work of the many skilled volunteers and the generous financial support of the following sponsors:

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Thank you, Key Bank - Gold Sponsor BoothThank you, Onbase by Hyland - Gold Sponsor BoothThank you, Rosetta - GiveCamp Steering Committee member Becky Horvath at Gold Sponsor BoothThank you, Asurint - Gold Sponsor BoothThank you, Explorys - Gold Sponsor Booth

2014 Sponsors

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

PATRON SPONSORS

Tweets & Retweets

Here are Stuart's @sos_jr tweets and retweets about @CleGiveCamp weekend. Please take a look at the information and photos shared here. If you see something interesting, please retweet. In particular, please share those tweets that:

  • Promote the 2014 charities serving our community
  • Promote @CleGiveCamp to assist new nonprofits in 2015
  • Thank sponsors
  • Share useful technology information

Before Cleveland GiveCamp

Day 1 - Starting the afternoon of Friday, July 18, 2014

Day 2 - Starting early on Saturday, July 19, 2014

Day 3 - Starting early on Sunday, July 20, 2014

Tweets & retweets after GiveCamp 2014

If you worked at @CleGiveCamp you will understand this next tweet on the Monday after...

What Others Say

Please take a look at what else was written about Cleveland GiveCamp, and photos/videos shared:

Plus, here is an article written before Cleveland GiveCamp on April 28, 2014, by the Foundation Center - Cleveland (@FCCleveland) that we wanted to also share: Technologically Challenged? Apply Now to Cleveland GiveCamp!

Learn more about Cleveland GiveCamp by reading our blog posts from the past two years:

Take Action for 2015

Take action! Please help Cleveland GiveCamp assist more Cleveland charities by doing the following: