United Way iPhone app gets mention in report to Congress

DES MOINES – A brainstorming session last year lead to development of an iPhone app to help connect Eastern Iowans to volunteer opportunities.

That app, created for the United Way of East Central Iowa Volunteer Center, has earned a mention in a congressional budget justification on volunteer services.

In the Corporation for Community Service congressional budget justification for 2014, the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service is highlighted as well as the app that works on Apple iPhones, iPads and iPods.

The app was the result of a conversation between United Way Vice President of Communications and Innovation Christoph Trappe and local app developer Karl Becker of KarlBecker.com.

The app provides volunteers with a map of volunteer opportunities and a way to connect those interested with the organizations hosting those opportunities, Trappe explained. More than 100 volunteer opportunities are listed.

“It kind of came from thinking about how to get people more involved in volunteering,” Becker said in a United Way video. He wanted to provide a much easier way for people to access the volunteer opportunities by mapping where the opportunities exist.

“You can see a bunch of pins on the map showing, hey, there's a volunteer opportunity just down the block from your house,” Becker said. “Wouldn't that be great to go there on a Saturday from 10 – 11 a.m.?  It gets down to those specifics and it's really easy to use.”

The United Way of East Central Iowa Volunteer Center has made the app available to other United Way agencies since it was launched in May 2012, Trappe said.

Also mentioned in the report to Congress was Gov. Terry Branstad's

Volunteer Iowa: A Call to Service initiative that created a public-private partnership to increase volunteerism in Iowa. The

What's Your 50? Campaign challenges Iowans to give back to their communities by volunteering at least 50 hours per year and the

Iowa Volunteer Generation Fund grant is helping to establish partnerships to increase volunteerism in the state.