TopFeatured.com

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — A group of high school and college students used their computer programming skills to help nonprofits in central Iowa at Devs Do Good Hackathon on Saturday.

Devs Do Good is a nonprofit that strives to give young techies real-world experience while also lending a helping hand to other nonprofits.

The Hackathon ran from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in West Des Moines. The group of students also helped revamp three nonprofits’ websites. One of those nonprofits was the West Des Moines Historical Society.

“This is really exciting. This is my first hackathon,” said West Des Moines Historical Society Executive Director Gale Brubaker. “I didn’t know what to expect, but they are taking our ideas and running with them. So I’m really excited to see what the end product will be.”

Valley High School junior Connor Fogarty is the nonprofit’s president and founder.

“The idea is that we can bring together students and nonprofits as well as technical mentors around central Iowa,” said Fogarty. “The mentors will help students learn a lot about programming and then those groups together will in turn help the nonprofits with their digital presence.”

Fogarty received an $8,000 grant from Microsoft to host the event. Next year, the young founder hopes to host the hackathon online so young Iowans across the state can participate in the event.

To learn more about Dev Do Good, click here.