Innovative Program for Families in Need of Food Anywhere in the US
I was inspired by this personal email sent by the CEO of Expensify.org. He requested that we share with anyone that may benefit from the program so, I am sharing with you. If you know of anyone who could benefit from the program, please share it too!
From: David Barrett
Date: Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 4:08 AM
Subject: Expensify.org/hunger to reimburse families in need during COVID-19 crisis
These are unprecedented times, and it’s inspiring to see communities rising to the challenge. However, not everyone has the resources to “shelter in place” especially the millions of people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Living paycheck to paycheck is hard when millions of businesses around the nation are closing down indefinitely, and hourly workers (including those dependent upon tips) are the hardest hit. In particular, families with kids whose primary meals happen at school are especially vulnerable when those schools shut down.
With this in mind, Expensify.org is going to temporarily redirect all of its charitable funds to Expensify.org/hunger. With its ability to reimburse volunteers directly in real-time, Expensify.org is uniquely positioned to help families in need immediately. Until today, this fund was focused on paying off kids’ “lunch debts” , but with schools closed around the nation, that isn’t the top priority. Instead, we’re devoting everything to a new program: matching SNAP grocery purchases up to $50 per family. It works like this:
- Purchase food as normal with your SNAP card
- Download Expensify on iOS or Android, for free
- Join the Expensify.org/hunger policy
- SmartScan the receipt, which will tell us how much you paid and show that it was paid for with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card
- Submit it to [email protected]
- Set up your bank account to receive the funds
- So long as we have funds available, we will reimburse up to $50 per family (one time), the very next day.
To be clear, we can’t commit to reimbursing every single person in need — we have no idea how many people will do this, and unfortunately, we don’t have unlimited funds. We also don’t know how long this crisis will last and how far our brand new charity’s resources will stretch. But we’re going to do what we can with the funds donated on behalf of Expensify Cardholders via the Karma Points feature, as well as by the extremely generous donors who have signed up for our Corporate and Personal Karma programs.
This is a truly global crisis, and it is only beginning. We all need to work together to weather the storm, and on behalf of Expensify.org’s many generous members, we’re eager to help.
-david
President of Expensify.org
PS: While you may not personally be on SNAP, please forward this along to anyone based in the US (where the SNAP program operates) you know that may need food assistance — or to any other groups or organizations who might be able to spread the word that help is available. Helping our local communities is what Expensify.org is all about!
Sent by: Expensify, Inc. – 548 Market St #61434 – San Francisco, CA 94103
