For the past three years, Brightspot and the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington have partnered on a variety of initiatives. This summer, building on the success of its holiday bicycle donation, Brightspot employees came together to assemble bicycles in support of the YMCA’s 21st Annual Thingamajig Invention Convention
In early June, Brightspot employees set aside their work and picked up wrenches, screwdrivers, and air pumps to assemble 25 bikes. Over 30 employees teamed up to build them including Dave Townsend, a senior software engineer. “It was great to see the company come together to help an organization like the YMCA, and I was happy to be able to help,” he reflected.
While the employees at Brightspot were hard at work building these bicycles, children throughout the D.C. area were busy dreaming up and manufacturing their own inventions.
On July 23, 4,000 children from Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. gathered at the Show Place Arena to participate in the Thingamajig Invention Convention. Thingamajig is an annual event held by the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, encouraging kids of all ages to pair their imagination with science. With the goal of exposing and inspiring children through STEM, Thingamajig challenges creativity and problem solving skills. This year, kids competed in 13 contests such as building a robot capable of completing an every day task, creating a stop motion film, and constructing a chair entirely of cardboard. At the end of the event the winners of each contest received one of the new bikes provided by Brightspot.
“Thingamajig was a huge success and a highlight of the summer for so many local children. We truly appreciate the ongoing support of Brightspot in providing these special opportunities for kids throughout the Washington Metropolitan area,” said Donielle Griffin of the YMCA.
Since 2013, the YMCA and Brightspot have worked together to provide unique opportunities for children. Earlier this summer, Brightspot provided scholarships to 35 children to attend sleep-away camp at Camp Letts in Edgewater, MD. Additionally, Brightspot has provided over 50 tickets to local sporting events to YMCA families and staff throughout the year.