Cleveland Givecamp: A truly enriching and rewarding experience

Image credit: Kelsey Clark

GiveCamp Sponsorship Info

Way back in the ancient days of 2016, Bill Mathews (owner of Hurricane Labs) decided we should sponsor this really cool initiative called Cleveland GiveCamp. If you don’t know anything about GiveCamp, which is a national initiative not only a Cleveland thing, you should definitely check it out.

This year we chose to be a Gold Sponsor and one of the perks of going with this level of sponsorship is the option of having a booth at the event. (By the way, if you want to sponsor or donate, visit theirSponsors page and support the important work they do every year!).

On Saturday, July 22nd, as I was gearing up with my box of swag and other booth-related items, I was very curious to find out what we had gotten ourselves involved with. When I arrived, I was greeted warmly by Nicole Derr who took me to my appropriate spot and helped me set up. Being one of the volunteers, Nicole quickly went back to her project after I was settled in.

Image credit: Cleveland GiveCamp Photographer Al Bell

So, who goes to this thing?

Fortunately, I had the privilege of being directly in front of the luncheon area, where people slowly and then more quickly started filtering in from being out on the LeanDog boat, or in the various nooks and crannies they discovered throughout the Burke Lakefront Airport museum. As I was hanging around, I bumped into a mixture of software developers, designers, social media and marketing professionals, among others.

GiveCamp’s ultimate purpose is to bring together local creative and technical talent to help nonprofits who are in need of their skills. And what a fabulous way for those looking to not only further their own professional and personal lives by gaining valuable hands on experience, but also to give their time and talents in order to do something awesome for the community.

Twitter image: @CleGiveCamp

Does GiveCamp really make a difference?

Something I was wondering to myself, and this was before I even arrived, was the natural question of: Is this initiative worth our time and sponsorship dollars? Very quickly, as I explored the different areas throughout Burke Lakefront Airport, as well as LeanDog, and got to witness the interactions and projects in the works, my answer turned into a very definite YES!

Not only was this 250+ person group of individuals striving to make a difference in their own lives, but their enthusiasm and collaboration was something that was and will continue to make a difference for those involved and the nonprofits that are able to benefit from this effort.

My takeaway

I can’t help but toss a little personal spin in here too. Even as I’ve been embracing new life experiences and being more open to different things, I’m still continuously (and pleasantly) surprised by the connections that can be made simply by being more open and positive in my experiences. GiveCamp was a nice reminder that extending yourself, and I mean this on an individual and also a business-wide level, and doing something awesome for your community can have far more benefits than you could imagine.

Thanks to the organizers, volunteers, and other sponsors for making Cleveland GiveCamp (Twitter: @CleGiveCamp) such an enriching experience to those involved and those in our community. Will look forward to supporting this initiative again next year!