Inspiration

After having received so much care and support from the people and communities around us, we both knew that we wanted to develop a tool that allowed more people to find both the kinds of impactful support we had received and the wonderful connections that inspire us everyday. So, creating a webapp that bridges gaps and brings people together to create real lasting impacts came very naturally.

What it does

Voluntr is a webapp that connects volunteers to charity organizations, collaborative events, and like-minded people in their communities dedicated to generating lasting, positive change. It is designed to track your volunteer hours, give you a feed of upcoming volunteer events, and share the good you are doing with others.

How we built it

Our process started from scratch, we learned Javascript on the fly, eventually transitioning into an Embedded Javascript Template approach for a single page app. For the backend we decided to try something new with PostgreSQL, and use bcrypt and express-session for authentication. After rounding out the program with css, we explored a lot of different aspects of web develpment.

Challenges we ran into

From your typical nasty bug, to the sleep deprecation kicking in at 3 AM, we faced our fair share of challenges. However, while we both probably would prefer not to have PostgreSQL-fueled headaches, the both of us are leaving this event satisfied with our product and excited for the next Hackathon.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We couldn't be more proud of how this Hackathon went. We experienced the pressure of learning how to build a fully functioning database from scratch, we endured 24 straight hours of collaborative coding, and we made it through with a fantastic project we both can't wait to develop more in the future. As transfer CIS students, we couldn't have asked for a more challenging and fulfilling experience.

What we learned

This being our first-ever Hackathon, the two of us gained a lot of new experiences with front-end design, back-end design, and creating a fully working database together. In preparation for the event, the both of us met up in the previous weeks to practice working together on Github repositories, building personal projects in relevant languages, and sharing ideas for how our talents could be used to create a better tomorrow.

What's next for voluntr

We can't wait to continue working on additional features such as improved authentication, geolocation filtration, and more community-building tools.

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