The Indy GiveCamp is a go for this weekend!

The Indianapolis GiveCamp will be held this weekend at MID, 9800 Association Ct., Indianapolis, Indiana 46280. 

Indy GiveCamp is a weekend-long collaboration between local developers, designers, database administrators, and non-profits. It is an opportunity for the technical community to celebrate and express gratitude for the contributions of these organizations by contributing code and technical know-how directly towards the needs of the groups.

The Significance of Applied Innovations Sponsorship

Applied Innovations, Windows Hosting Experts, is pleased to once again have the opportunity to help sponsor a GiveCamp event as official hosting sponsor.  GiveCamps are interesting in that you bring a group of diverse individual developers each with different backgrounds and expertise together to help a series of worthy charities solve a business related problem.  Because the developers can come from different backgrounds and have different skillsets and are building a solution in such an abbreviated period of time it’s really important they have a wide range of tools available to them. It’s this need that makes Applied Innovations an ideal sponsor!  You see, Applied Innovations is offering free shared hosting accounts to all of the charities. Each shared hosting account includes support for:

• ASP
• ASP.NET 2.0, 3.5, 4.0
• ASP.NET MVC 1.0, MVC 2.0
• PHP w/FastCGI enabled
• MySQL 5.X databases
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 & 2005

And the list goes on and on. The beauty is that because we provide support for such a robust and broad range of programming languages the developers are able to use the best tool for the job and aren’t locked into using something they may not be familiar with or experts in.

The Charities being Helped in Indiana

Marion County Commission on Youth (MCCOY)

MCCOY champions the positive development of youth through leadership on key issues and support of the youth worker community. Established as an independent not-for-profit organization in 1993 after several years in city-county government, MCCOY serves as the catalyst for positive youth development, working with youth serving agencies, youth workers and the entire community to make sure that every young person has access to the supports, opportunities and experiences necessary to become a positve, productive and contributing adult.

The Haven Youth Center

The Haven is a non-for-profit drop-in youth center located in Martinsville, Indiana. They cater to middle and high school aged youth. The center is open for middle school youth right after school and for high school youth on Friday nights. They provide a safe place for youth to hang out with their friends while offering various programs throughout the year. They offer drug, alcohol, and tobacco prevention programs a couple of times each year. The Haven’s main goal is to simply give youth an alternative to going home to an empty house where temptations may lurk. They encourage youth to be the best they can be, and offer some incredible adult mentors to be readily available for the youth to play games with or talk if they need to.

Shepherd’s Center of Hamilton County

The Shepherd’s Center of Hamilton County, founded in 1985, is a non-profit organization whose Mission is to support and empower older adults to have enriched lives while maintaining independent lifestyles. The Shepherd’s Center of Hamilton County is a affiliate of the Shepherd’s Center of America which was founded by Dr. Elbert Cole in 1975. We fulfill our Mission through two primary programs: Community Caring and Together Today. Through Community Caring, volunteers are matched with homebound and isolated seniors (65 years and over), to provide FREE services so that the seniors can live independently in their own homes for as long as possible. (Services include friendly visitors, home repair, house cleaning, yard work, and more). We reach those people who are financially fragile, physically/mentally impaired and who have few options for assistance. Through Together Today, seniors 55 and older get together on a regular basis for fellowship and to engage in fun, educational, and healthy activities. This program allows seniors to meet with friends new and old on a regular basis, and to look forward to participating in activities every week. For more information and/or to check our website, please visit www.shepherdscenterofhamiltoncounty.org.

NuAfrica, Inc.

We provide water and education to the impoverished. Our serving started in 2008 in Mali, West Africa, the 3rd poorest country in the world. On 1/1/10, we dug a solar-powered well for 3,000 people who’s nearest access to clean water was previously a 7 mile walk. Our annual fundraiser, Drill4Water, is a tennis gathering at Carmel Racquet Club, where we raise money with volunteer pros drilling players on donated courts, serve dinner, and hold a silent auction. Each May, we also do a "locker clean-out," at Carmel High School. We take our children’s basically new pencils, pens, spiral notebooks and transport them to Mali village children who have no supplies at school. Finally, we collect agricultural supplies (seeds & tools) from Brebeuf Jesuit soccer families and transport them to Mali as well.

Northside Twins & Multiples

Northside Twins & Multiples (Formerly Charter Chapter Mother of Twins Club) is an non-profit organization with over 120 members. We offer monthly support groups, semi-annual clothing and equipment sales, educational/social activities, and many other club benefits. We believe the best advice on raising multiples comes from those members who have already lived the experience. We are committed to service projects in the community and have sponsored park-clean-ups, holiday giving projects, baskets for premature babies and charity walks.

The Tina Marie Arens Foundation

"Helping Single Mothers in Need." The Tina Marie Arens Foundation is a nonprofit organization providing counseling, education and financial assistance for single mothers, giving them a chance to fight against addiction and it’s threat to the health and wellfare of their children. Through outreach and consultation, we also seek to educate the community about the issues of alcoholism and addiction and its impact on all our lives. Our programs and services are designed to contribute to a significant reduction in the legacy affect of addiction and to help break the intergenerational cycle of substance abuse.

Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic

The Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic (the Clinic) promotes justice through both legal representation and preventive law education to Indianapolis’ low-income population. Since opening its doors in 1994, clients whose income is at or below 125% of the federal poverty level have received critically-needed legal services regardless of religious affiliation. The Clinic has a broad civil practice representing low-income clients in the areas of family law, immigration, wills and estates, housing, landlord/tenant disputes, debt and bankruptcy, tax controversies, and other civil areas. In addition to legal representation, the Clinic also regularly hosts preventive legal education workshops and provides printed materials in English, Spanish, and two Burmese dialects to increase awareness of the legal rights and responsibilities of low-income families and individuals. Currently, the Clinic operates eleven (11) neighborhood-based intake sites throughout the Indianapolis area to ensure services are convenient and accessible to low-income residents. Furthermore, the Clinic collaborates with other local non-profit organizations—including local homeless shelters, Latino-multi-service centers, and domestic violence programs—to make critically-needed legal services more accessible to low-income individuals.

Autism Advocates of Indiana

The mission of Autism Advocates of Indiana (AAI) is to increase and broaden public knowledge and awareness of the behaviors, social issues and emotional needs of individuals on the autism spectrum so that all individuals can participate in and contribute to our community without fear of bias or loss of individuality. We carry out our mission through funds from the annual "Answers for Autism Walk" and contributions from private organizations. It is our intention to use the proceeds from this event to promote the advancement of autism research and provide grants for programs in Indiana that serve individuals on the autism spectrum and increase public awareness. Proceeds from the Answers for Autism Walk will help Indiana families touched by autism in many ways. Since 2001, Autism Advocates of Indiana has been able to contribute $205,000 to national research, $260,347 in grants to community organizations across Indiana that provide programming or supports for individuals with autism. Currently, 1 in every 110 or 1% of American children has a diagnosis of autism, including 1 in 70 boys. There is no cure for Autism. Though various treatments and therapies may provide some children with advancements, research and programming are limited due to lack of available funds.

What you can do to help.

1. 1. If you’re interested in volunteering for the indy givecamp 2010, visit: ;
2. 2. If, a givecamp sounds like a great idea and you’re interested in coordinating one in your local area, visit the national givecamp website: http://www.givecamp.org/

I hope if you are considering a givecamp that you’ll reach out to your friends here at Applied Innovations, www.appliedi.net and allow us the privilege to sponsor the givecamp with you.

Finally, I’d just like to compliment Jay Harris from Arana Software for all the work he’s put in on coordinating multiple givecamps including this one.