Kamloops Uplift Project
Earlier this month, RTOWN had the privilege of partnering up with United Way, TNC & Kamloops Innovation to host an event called the Kamloops Uplift Project. Over a 24 hour period we put creatives, techies, marketers and business minded individuals to work on a project to assist local non-profit organizations. The event saw 5 projects, 20 volunteers and one very tight deadline. The volunteers worked with five local Kamloops based non-profits including The New Life Mission, Kamloops Brain Injury Association, The Gleaning Abundance Program, Kamloops Food Policy Council and United Way Thompson Nicola Cariboo.
After a quick meet-up on Friday night, the teams set off to conquer their individual projects and by the time I showed up on Saturday morning, the teams were deeply focused on getting the job done. As one of the mentors, I had the opportunity to check in on all the projects and see how they were coming along throughout the day and help where needed. There was an incredible buzz at KIC on Saturday and you could tell all the volunteers were motivated to get their projects completed by the deadline.
Presenting the idea. Photo: @kicpeople Chad’s team put together an interactive map for the United Way TNC website that shows off their individual communities which you can see live here.
Allie and her team put together a wonderful guide to Social Media for KBIA that any NPO would benefit from and I can see it being a big help for them and their marketing efforts.
Crunch Time. Photo: @kicpeople Jennifer and her teammates helped the GAP program clean up their website and make it easier for gleaners to communicate with the organizers through social media platforms.
Malisa’s group helped the Kamloops Food Policy Council re-build their website.
Mitch & Mike, along with mentor Kristina Benson, created an efficient website tool for the New Life Mission Simply Catering program.
After an amazing catered dinner from New Life Mission, it was time for the presentations. Four members from the NPO’s were able to join us that evening and they were thrilled with the outcome of their projects. Many non-profits don’t have the resources or revenue to support these types of project and the Kamloops Uplift Project was a great starting point for our tech community to help give back to the community.
