Hackers,
Back a year and a half ago I put out a small basket of snacks out at my
office (granola bars, fruit bars, and the like). Alongside the snacks I
placed a placard explaining to my coworkers that any donations they made,
less the cost of the snacks they ate, would be donated to the local food
bank. We raised about $10/week for the food bank doing close to nothing;
that's a $500/yr clip.
The "Pantry Bowl", as I called it, looked like this:
[image: Inline image 1]
*Simple, and a lot like most of our "repaymentization" apparatus.*
*I've since received a Sprout Fund Grand Idea grant to turn my little
pantry bowl into "The Pantry Bowl Project"* in order to spread the concept
and help bowl-organizers introduce the concept to their offices (and bosses
or HR directors) and to connect with their local food pantry.
*Do you folks think our shop would be a good place to host a Pantry
Bowl?* Understanding
that the vending machine has its place as a low-cost option for the hungry,
perhaps a HackPGH Pantry Bowl would host more filling or more hearty snacks.
At the very least, I'd be willing to host a bowl in my own cubby.
Finally, I'd like to point out that our shop is only a couple hundred feet
from the entrance of a soup kitchen and food pantry, the Jubilee Kitchen. I
don't know what interaction we've had with them in the past, but I'd like
to see us get involved with them in some way. Perhaps in the future we can
discuss what skills we have that could benefit the area's less fortunate.
See you all soon!
Sincerely,
- James Lomuscio
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