A group of information technology students needed a project which helped a non-profit and The Storehouse in Covington had needs.

Leslie Aal, a student at University of Washington-Tacoma, attends Covington Christian Fellowship where The Storehouse is based and overseen by Meg Holland.

“Our teacher asked us to do a project that benefited the community,” Aal said. “I approached Meg and asked if there was anything my class could do to help The Storehouse technology-wise.”

Holland said her head was spinning when Aal asked what the non-profit might need.

“We’ve got a database that we’ve used since the beginning, so for 13 years, it was ancient and not functioning well,” Holland said. “I was lost in how to make changes in that area.”

Aal, who lives just west of the Kent-Covington border, discovered a passion for computers while at Highline Community College. The stay-at-home mom who worked part-time for her dad’s law firm in Burien took the idea to her IT class after she spoke with Holland.

“We hadn’t yet formed groups but I did bring it back to the class and said, ‘This is a project that I have that I think is interesting,’” Aal said.

The instructor put all the projects up on the board in class and the students selected the project they wanted to work on, Aal explained.

That’s how Jody Weeks, a 2007 Kentridge High graduate who grew up with a dad who works as a computer programmer, ended up as part of the six-person group.

“We were really drawn to the idea of helping out a food bank,” Weeks said. “I’ve been working on the Access database. It’s for the Home Depot donations. So, basically what we’re making is … a database that you can easily generate forms and queries and keep track and locate items that have been donated.”

The Storehouse delivers food to families in need on a weekly basis.

In addition to that, Holland said, the non-profit has recently formed a partnership with Home Depot through which the home improvement store donates pallets of materials that it’s getting rid of for whatever reason.

Weeks’ database tracks the donations and inventory of items.

“Right now we have a family whose house had a flood and they’re slowly doing repairs,” Holland said. “We help all these other groups besides doing the home food deliveries. Several of them are renovating buildings. So, some of those materials (from Home Depot) are going to help with that.”

In addition to the Home Depot-related database as well as the database for The Storehouse, Aal said, the group is also building a website for the non-profit.

Work on the project needs to be complete by the end of February and the group will then present the project in class.

Weeks did a quick mental tally of how much work the group has put into the technology projects for The Storehouse.

“We have probably two meetings a week, then we have class… so we probably have 20 hours as a group,” Weeks said. “And I’ve probably spent 15 hours on my own.”

Aal added that each of the group members had probably spent 15 to 20 hours working on the project on their own time.

As of Feb. 17, the work was between 80 percent and 90 percent complete.

Once the work is done, Aal said, the group will do some training with Holland and others involved with keeping up the databases as well as the website.

She also expected the group to provide some support to those at the church responsible for IT needs.

“All of this is kind of launching us to being current, accessible,” Holland said. “It’s really exciting because I feel this huge weight lifting of where we’re supposed to be and where we’re struggling to get to.”