Some Background
Like many Americans, my family and I watched the dire media reports following Hurricane Katrina. Our first reaction was one of helplessness for the people in need so far away. My wife's initial thought was we could provide housing. I didn't know how realistic it was for someone to travel thousands of miles, and relocate to blustery Buffalo from warm New Orleans.
I went to the basement, and purchased the domain 'katrina-relocation.com'. I knew it would take a day or two for the DNS to resolve around the world, and that would give me some time to come up with a simple website. The website allowed individuals from all 50 states to offer housing to victims of the hurricane. A company that did background checks performed that service for free. We did match families with people offering housing.
What I took away from the experience was that there's plenty of room on the web to do good. Yes, the web is filled with things that if we encountered on the street, we'd turn our head. But just like in the real world, there are those that will go out of the way to give you a hand.
More Recently...
A few years back I worked in the IT Department for a hospital. While it wasn't an IT priority, I did take an interest in how the hospital tried to increase the number of volunteers. Volunteers are important to a hospital. Especially as these institutions do everything possible to keep costs low. Volunteers are often the only people that can take an extra few minutes and check that a patients personal needs are being met.
I am also on the board of directors for a local little league. Again, volunteers are critical for the functioning of the league. Whether it's parents taking the time to coach, or help prepare the fields, or work in the snack stand, the league wouldn't exist without these volunteers.
I'm sure you're aware of many organizations that would love to be able to honor those that volunteer. Just another way of saying thanks may help bring in more volunteers. When a friend sees a friend on Facebook has volunteered at a local school, it can't help but increase the likelihood for more volunteerism.
You and Some Do!
We hope to kick off Some Do! in the summer of 2013. We'd love to have your help. Whether you're a php programmer, or a member of an organization that could use Some Do! to increase volunteer levels, we'd love to hear from you.
Send us an email at SomeDo.Org