On December 9th, a new Philadelphia-based philanthropic organization hosted their first event and couldn’t be happier with the results. The organization, Geeks who Give, hosted a food drive in cooperation with Philabundance, a Philadelphia hunger relief organization, at National Mechanics in Old City, Philadelphia.
The event raised over 900 pounds of food by asking attendees to each bring 5 non-perishable food items in exchange for prizes, drink specials and food discounts. In addition to the food donations, a portion of the drink orders were donated to Philabundance by National Mechanics. Everyone who participated received a raffle ticket, and participants who brought more than the requested number of non perishables received multiple entries into the raffle that was made possible by local businesses like Fork, Claudio’s, The Belgium Cafe, Tattooed Moms, Palace at the Ben, Open Source Cupcakes, the Philadelphia CityPaper, and The Wine School.
Geeks who Give food drive (picture by Vincent J Brown)
Geeks who Give was founded on the idea of Open Source Community Giving. The group states, “We are more than the sum of our parts, and together, we are capable of anything.” Their vision is to allow those interested in giving to help in any way they can, from planning events to donating to causes. This loose structure not only encourages giving, but does so through a feeling of community and fun.
News of the event spread virally through social media outlets. The organization posted details of the event on their blog and then fed this information through popular websites like Facebook and Twitter. Participants could share news of the food drive with their friends through these social media sites. This event was promoted so much through Twitter that it ended up being an informal ‘Tweet-Up” or event where Twitter members could meet in person. During the event Twitter posts (Tweets) about Geeks who Give were displayed on a large screen at the front of the bar.
Geeks who Give Tweet-up (photo by Vincent J. Brown)
There are more great events being planned by Geeks who Give. I believe we will be seeing many successful event by this group in the near future. Upcoming Geeks who Give events can be found by following them on Twitter @Geekswhogive or through their blog at www.geekswhogive.com.
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