What started out as a simple way to get vaccinated for himself and his family, Brian Finley (MA, 2009) has unexpectedly helped thousands of people in the state of Iowa get vaccinated.

Brian is a University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communications alumni, and currently works as an application developer for the University. This is where he integrated his skills from work to help his fellow Iowans.

As he was struggling to find available vaccines, Brian created an algorithm to alert him when there was a vaccine available in the nearby area. This is when it turned into something much larger.

“I spent a lot of time just poking around, choosing random cities in Iowa, and searching on Hy-Vee. So, I decided to try and find a way to make it easier,” said Finley. “After I got my family signed up, it felt like it would be kind of wrong to delete it so I figured out a way to put it on twitter and get other people that information.”

Finley expanded the radius of the search to the entire state of Iowa and created a twitter account called “Iowa Vaccine Alerts.” The algorithm creates an automated tweet with the details of where and when the given vaccine is available. The account has gained as many as around 34,500 followers, and currently sits at around 28,000 followers—Finley actually views the loss of followers as a positive.

“I’m excited that we’re losing followers,” said Finley. “Hopefully that means that people have gotten their vaccines, and gotten their people vaccinated.”

Finley estimates that with the amount of people that have unfollowed the account combined with the plethora of feedback he has received, he has been able to help roughly 10,000 people, if not more.

Finley is also no stranger to being charitable. Even before helping notify people of available vaccines on twitter, Finley used his personal 3D printer to make face shields. He also partakes in a program called “Extra Life”. This charity resembles the format of “Dance Marathon” but instead of dancing for 24 hours straight, you play video games online for 24 hours straight and all the proceeds go directly to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital.

“This will be the eighth year that I have done it,” said Finley. “In the previous seven years I have raised about 25,000.”

When people reach out and ask how they can help, Finley directs them to “Extra Life” and various other charitable organizations to help with covid relief and give back. As we continue to navigate this difficult time period, Finley continues to help spread information on available vaccines and raise money for those who need it.

Amidst conflict is when we show our true character, and during the pandemic, Finley’s charitable and thoughtful qualities were exemplified. Finley is a walking example of the type of person we should all strive to be.