Help the Philippines: a Hackathon for Techies, a Drinkathon for Alkies

, an organization that holds talks and events promoting Filipino entrepreneurship, is hosting a disaster-relief hackathon on the Lower East Side this weekend.

If you’ve never heard of a hackathon before, they’re like the marathons of tech: Weekend sprints of coding and design dedicated to building projects around particular themes. They’ve become ubiquitous in the startup community in recent years, but a super typhoon that has killed thousands is a bit of an unusual prompt.

NextDayBetter’s founder, Ryan Letada, said that there already are plenty of charities and fundraisers for people to donate the cash and resources the Philippines badly needs. He wants to tap into a different resource. “Not everyone can give funds, but they can definitely offer their skills and their talents and their passion,” he said.

Hackathons can be fluid, so it’s tough to predict ahead of time what the end result may be. Two areas Letada said attendees may explore include apps that coordinate fundraising efforts, and that better identify needs in affected areas that donors and relief organizations might help supply.

Letada said all are welcome, but the hackathon has a particular need for front-end and back-end coders, designers and strategists. He asks that potential attendees register online, as space is limited.

The hackathon is taking place Saturday and Sunday at Projective Space at 72 Allen St. between Grand and Broome. The official hours are from 9:30 to 5 p.m., but Letada said it could go longer, depending on progress.

The Philippines still need Real Money, so here are some of the fundraising events happening in the B+B area in the next few days:

Nov. 14
Typhoon Relief Fundraiser & Raffle at Fat Buddha