
Ask HN: How can I hack for community service? - scottmwinters
My work offers paid &quot;Service Learning&quot; time every year (40 hours). As a programmer, I&#x27;d really like to contribute in ways other than picking up trash and planting trees in a park.<p>What are some ways that programmers can give back to the community?<p>I&#x27;m not sure &quot;open source projects&quot; are really what count here, so unless you have a specific project or good justification...<p>If the best answer is &quot;tutor high school&quot;, how do you go about getting involved with that?
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lmm
Programming is a tool. Find a community organization you care about - whether
that be picking up trash or what have you. Follow their processes, understand
them. And then look for ways where you can automate things to make them more
efficient.

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scottmwinters
I like this idea a lot more than just "make a website." While that is clearly
a valid application of programming, it's not my strong suit and most places
already have websites up anyway. I'd imagine most any of them could use some
good scripting and such though! Thanks!

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panglott
In Louisville I hear a lot about the Civic Data Alliance working with local
government and local nonprofits, on things like accessibility for people who
are blind, &c. They're part of Code for America.
[http://www.civicdataalliance.org/](http://www.civicdataalliance.org/)
[http://www.codeforamerica.org/](http://www.codeforamerica.org/)

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LarryMade2
Being in the non-profit sector, I have some thoughts on this.

Would you have someone to drop by and build you a bridge to satisfy their
community service?

If you do something like programming for some agency, take into account the
long term cost of what you do. Putting up a site with a framework is quick,
but will there be someone able to support updating the code in the months and
years to follow?

For programming I'd go with open source contributions. (also you can put links
to your work and add to your resume)

Tutoring is good, doesn’t have to be in high school, there are local community
centers that are looking for people to put on workshops and such.

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tixocloud
As folks have already mentioned, have a chat with these organizations and
really understand what they are struggling with in their day to day tasks.
Technology is just a solution - but possibly they need help in creating
awareness and a website/social media presence could be a small part of the
solution.

As a former consultant, we advised non-profits on their organizational
structure, helped them eliminate inefficiency and built a business case to
raise funds for their initiatives as part of our volunteer work.

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jeffmould
Not sure where you are located, but I know that the Washington Post lists
volunteer opportunities in the job ads online. Most of the time there are
developer opportunities on there for non-profits looking for help with
websites or other projects. I know a few people that have used those
opportunities to give back and also build/refresh their personal portfolios.
If you aren't in the DC area, you may try other newspapers of similar size. I
am only familiar with the Post though.

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brudgers
[http://www.railsbridge.org](http://www.railsbridge.org)

[http://www.blackgirlscode.com/](http://www.blackgirlscode.com/)

[http://www.clojurebridge.org/](http://www.clojurebridge.org/)

[https://girlswhocode.com/](https://girlswhocode.com/)

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skidoo
Seek out non-profits in your area and volunteer to help build web-presences
for them- websites, social networking, etc. Just assisting with spreading the
word can do wonders sometimes.

Or go further and offer a contest, of so many hours of your time to whomever
raises the most fundage for whatever local community organization.

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rfergie
I do some data work with a small UK charity. Right now we need some help with
deciding how best to proceed with our IT stuff.

So probably not programming right now, but definitely the sort of thing a
programmer could help with.

Hit me up at my email (in profile) if this interests you

