Northreach Society partnered with Northwestern Polytechnic to build an app to support with the Helping Hands Adopt-A-Family initiative. Adopt-A-Family matches local families in need of Christmas support with sponsors in the community. Throughout the 2023 and 2024 Christmas seasons, it became clear there was a need for a more streamlined process to relieve the administrative workload of such a large project within a tight timeline. Northreach Society reached out to Franco Carlacci, Computing Science Instructor, following the 2024 Christmas initiative to see if there was any possibility of a partnership with the computing science program. Franco was supportive of the initiative and applied for the Faculty Innovation Fund Award. The Office of Applied Research and Innovation at Northwestern Polytechnic funded the project entitled “Digital Food Hamper Assistance & Sponsorship Platform”. This fund was used to pay wages for a computing science student to develop an app for the Christmas initiative.

Brittany Kelly, Director of Programming at Northreach Society, worked closely with Owen Rowney, 4^th year student in the Bachelor of Computing Science program, to develop the app. Brittany provided details on the program needs and workflow while Owen made the vision a reality. The team worked diligently to build the app during the 2025 Christmas season – often building functionality just prior to rollout.  The development of the app significantly reduced the workload throughout the 2025 Christmas season by automating processes and communication. The change has made the project more sustainable with the possibility of scaling in the future. Helping Hands plans to use the app for the 2026 Christmas initiative and will be working with Owen to improve the experiences of recipients, sponsors and Helping Hands administrators.