newprotest.org: CHARITY DATABASE STARTED

CHARITY DATABASE STARTED

December 04, 2006
by: jovial_cynic
I've done it!

For the last year, I've been collecting clothes, food, and money to give out to needy folks in my community, but I didn't have a system to keep an inventory of the items I've collected, nor established a way to effectively distribute the goods.

Today, I finally assembled a large part of the database that will house all of that data, providing a convenient way for me to enter items I have, as well as to allow other people to enter items they have, effectively creating a network of donators who can mobilize goods to deliver them where they are most needed. Not only does this eliminate the need for mass storage (ie., I'd really like people to stop bringing me bags of clothes...), but it allows people to contribute in a targetted manner. Instead of delivering a bag of clothing to a charity, a person can list the items they have available and be notified when a particular family has a need that the particular person can directly meet. Of course, this will require a bit of transportation logistics, but in the end, I think it'll work nicely to know that you donated to a particular person or family in your own community.

Anyhow, I've got a bit more constructing to do, and I have to build some database tables that will account for goods other than clothing. Things like food, furniture, dishes, appliances, etc., etc., have to be considered, and I have to figure out a handy way to sort all of that data. In the meanwhile, I've got about 12 large bags of clothing to dump into the database...
np category: charity
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COMMENTS for CHARITY DATABASE STARTED


Austin said:
I never discourage potential charity, I'm glad to see you've been continuing God's work and followed through with your charity administration. But conerning the means of distritbution - have you given any thought to the potential risks involved in distributing information of both people in need and of the doners? I was thinking specifically, if a doner is asked to make a donation in his or community/surrounding area, they might know the person and become aware of a life circumstance that was a secret.
December 06, 2006


jovial_cynic said:
The structure of the program should actually eliminate that problem.

Example: Bob knows a family in need of warm jackets. Bob gets on the system and sees that there are warm jackets in his area. He contacts the people who have the jackets and arranges to pick them up for the family, and then delivers the jackets. Bob is the only one that contacts the family, as he already has a relationship with them.

This would also be beneficial for group homes and shelters -- their administrators can search for things they know their members need and arrange to pick up the donations and deliver them to their members.

December 06, 2006


Kristen said:
Definitely sounds cool!
December 08, 2006


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