This year I’ve seen a lot of geeks doing a lot of fun things. I’ve organized my geek dinners (which I will try to revive in ’08). There were myriads of unconferences and (blank)camps and meetups. Startups had launch parties, summer bbqs, holiday parties, and no-real-reason parties. There were photowalks galore. I think this is awesome. But for the past few months I’ve been really thinking about how much more the tech community could be doing beyond our technology contributions.
I’ve donated to DonorsChoose this year, bought an OLPC, and gave to numerous of my friends’ good causes. My consulting firm is committed to taking on pro-bono projects for non-profit companies. I’m also putting aside a percentage of all gross revenue to give to charities. I feel that this is a good first step for me personally, one that I’d like to build on in the years to come.
After our morning at the SF Food Bank with Bug Labs last month, we decided we wanted to try to rally up the tech community to do something similar. So here we go, its time for Geeks Doing Good (I even own the domain – if this works, we’re going to try to make it a recurring event)! We have reserved two slots of 3 hours each, one at 9am, the other at 12:30pm, helping at the SF Food Bank. As volunteering goes, it’s a fairly “easy” event. You won’t get really dirty or smelly (well, no more so than you normally might), and you won’t really have to interact with anyone that might be unnerving.
Please consider taking just 3 hours out of your holiday season to help those in need. The stats on impoverished people in San Francisco are unbelievable, and I think we all need the occasional reality check from our generally cushy lives (yes, odds are pretty good that if you read my blog you lead a fairly cushy life – nothing wrong with that at all). If you can’t make it, how about donating even a few dollars instead (although my goal is really a full house, the money helps too)?
Let’s make this a success, and turn it into a recurring one, shall we? Also, if you want to help us out with planning other events, please email me or leave a comment here!