dsmHack

A huge THANK YOU to Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield for sponsoring the Hack Away Hunger: Food Insecurity Challenge, and giving your staff the opportunity to be a part of this mission.

This team showed up with curiosity, generosity, and a genuine desire to make a difference. Before writing a single line of code, they took the time to talk with stakeholders and understand the people they were designing for. That willingness to listen first made their solutions stronger and more effective.

We’re incredibly grateful for Wellmark’s continued partnership, for the time and talent your team shared, and for your investment in both your employees and our community.

Thank you for showing up, leaning in, and helping us Hack Away Hunger. 💙

Thank you to everyone who showed up for night one of our in-person accelerator! 🙌

We’re already hard at work on day two of our 48-hour sprint focused on developing tech solutions for issues impacting food insecurity.

Hack Away Hunger: Food Insecurity Challenge, presented by Corteva Agriscience, is a 30-day charity hackathon where coders, developers, designers, systems architects, data analysts, IT professionals, etc. build, test, collaborate, and turn ideas into action.

Let’s keep the momentum going and continue this mission together! 🚀

Only TWO DAYS left to sign up for the Hack Away Hunger: Food Insecurity Challenge Accelerator Hack presented by Corteva Agriscience!

We’ve got a $5,000 prize pool for the projects with the greatest potential for impact, and right now, you can use code "HACKNOW" to unlock a complimentary ticket to participate.

Can't join us for the full event in person? Remote participation is an option.

💻

Hack Away Hunger: Food Insecurity Challenge Presented by Corteva Agriscience, a charity hackathon focused on overcoming issues impacting food insecurity in our community.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Hack Away Hunger Kickoff at DMARC, sponsored by Corteva Agriscience and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield! 💙

Our guest panelists offered a wealth of knowledge and insight into all of the work being done in our community to make sure our neighbors have access to basic human needs. We received this great feedback afterward: “I heard many people grappling with the scope and scale of the issues — probably for the first time — in their own community. That’s a win on its own.”

Those educational conversations are already sparking momentum in Slack, with project ideas taking shape and connections being made.

If you've got tech skills and a heart to help your community, there’s still time to join us for the Sept 24-26 charity hack. Remote options available.

Sign up at join.hackawayhunger.org! 💻

What happens when you bring volunteers with tech skills together to collaborate on issues impacting our community?

Find out at Hack Away Hunger: Food Insecurity Challenge! 🍎💻

If you are a student, mentor, developer, designer, data expert, problem-solver, or just a community member interested in using your tech skills for the common good, this is your opportunity to dive in and make a meaningful difference.

A huge thank you to Corteva Agriscience for presenting Hack Away Hunger and to the DMARC Food Pantry Network for partnering with us to host our informational kickoff event.

📅 September 10: Informational Kickoff
💻 September 24–26: Accelerator Hackathon
🏆 October 10: Awards Ceremony

Present your final solution for a chance to win up to $5,000!

Hunger doesn’t stop. Technology doesn’t sleep. Let’s see what we can build together.

👉 join.hackawayhunger.org

Andrew Miller is the principal engineer at 84EM, a one-engineer practice based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he integrates AI from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google into software that businesses actually run on.

He has been building for the web since 1995, long enough to be skeptical of solutions that look finished but don't hold up. He cares less about what AI can generate than about whether it solves the real problem, and how that solution affects the people who use it.

Andrew brings a thoughtful, grounded perspective on both the possibilities and limitations of AI. Important perspectives to consider as we head into our September 10 kickoff event.

Whether you're a tech pro like Andrew or just someone who is interested in vibe coding, we invite you to come learn about the issues impacting food insecurity in our community and discover how YOU can help! join.hackawayhunger.org

Members of the dsmHack Board of Directors visited Corteva Agriscience today to tour the collaborative spaces our presenting sponsor has generously offered to provide for the Sept. 24–26 Accelerator Hackathon.

We're incredibly excited about this partnership and can't wait to host Hack Away Hunger: Food Insecurity Challenge in Johnston, Iowa!

Learn More & Sign Up to Make a Difference:
join.hackawayhunger.org

More than 402,000 Iowans experience food insecurity, and 1 in 4 Des Moines residents rely on food pantries to meet their basic human needs. We can do better.

It starts by listening.

Join us for the Hack Away Hunger: Food Insecurity Challenge Kickoff Event on Sept 10 to learn from community leaders on the front lines of food insecurity and discover how your tech skills can help build enduring solutions for common problems.

Then, put your ideas into action during the 48-hour Accelerator Hack, presented by Corteva Agriscience, on Sept 24–26. Collaborate with fellow innovators, receive guidance from experienced mentors, build a solution with real community impact, and compete for up to $5,000 in prizes!

Learn more and get involved:

Hack Away Hunger: Food Insecurity Challenge Presented by Corteva Agriscience, a charity hackathon focused on overcoming issues impacting food insecurity in our community.

After years working to address food insecurity, Matt Unger is no stranger to the challenges facing our community and the importance of bringing people together to solve issues that impact us all.

After a dozen years in politics and government, Matt spent the next twelve years focused on food insecurity, building partnerships among nonprofits, businesses, government, and community leaders to strengthen systems of support and improve access to resources. He most recently served as CEO of the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC), following more than six years with the Food Bank of Iowa, where he concluded his tenure as Chief Operating Officer.

Throughout his career, Matt has helped bring organizations and community leaders together around shared goals, including through his work as a founding board member of the Iowa Hunger Coalition and Iowa Nonprofit Alliance. His recent sabbatical has provided time and space to reflect on what’s working, what needs to change, and how we can continue creating more effective solutions.

We’re grateful to have Matt’s experience, perspective, and collaborative spirit as part of the Hack Away Hunger: Food Insecurity Challenge.

Join him and other community leaders on September 10th for the kickoff event as we explore the challenges facing our community and how we can work together to create solutions. 👉 join.hackawayhunger.org

For Zuli Garcia, language should never be a barrier to accessing the resources and support a family needs.

As the Founder and CEO of KADI – Knock and Drop Iowa, Zuli works every day to connect families with food, health education, essential resources, and community support. She knows that finding help can be difficult enough without having to navigate language barriers, multiple systems, and disconnected resources.

How can technology more effectively help families overcome these barriers?

Join Zuli and other food insecurity panelists at the Hack Away Hunger: Food Insecurity Challenge Kickoff Event on September 10 at 5 p.m. to learn about the technology challenges facing our community and discover how your skills and ideas can help.

Register at join.hackawayhunger.org!