Feeding the app-etite
Food pantries streamline process by using technology
CITY FOOD pantries are turning to technology to help feed the hungry.
A new phone app and reservation system offers those in need of nutritional assistance a fast way to find a meal — just in time for winter.
Dubbed Plentiful, it allows people to register and check in at food pantries using their phones, via the app or text, significantly reducing wait times and easing the process for food providers.
“It’s faster,” Lucy Roque, 46, a mother of five kids, she as she emerged from the National Council of Jewish Women New York Section food pantry on the Upper West Side.
“I was in there a few minutes then I was out.”
Rita Shapiro, the organization’s finance director, said the app has allowed it to do away filling out time-consuming paper records on the recipients and amount of food distributed.
“Things are much, much easier,” Shapiro said. “All you need is the person’s name and phone number and their information comes up in the system.”
The app was born out of the New York City Food Assistance Collaborative, a mix of private and public groups that include the NYC Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, City Harvest and the United Way of New York City. It is funded by the Helmsley Charitable Trust.
Plentiful also allows pantries to send out mass texts if there is a change to their normal schedule or if they have information they need to get to their clients.
Many pantries have jumped at the chance to cut down on lines and provide clients a more dignified experience along with the ability to preorder food and schedule a time to pick up their meals.
“The more outreach we do the more interest we get,” said Bryan Moran, Plentiful’s outreach coordinator.
So far, 140 pantries have joined the platform since it launched 11 months ago.
More than 120,000 unique pantry trips have been logged through Plentiful.
Bob Shaver, a consultant with Redstone Strategy Group, said the time has come to streamline how pantries help the less fortunate and collect data.
“Most food pantries have not changed their approach in 30 years,” Shaver said. “The image most people have of a food panty is people waiting in line in the cold. Today’s technology makes that completely unacceptable.”
The hope is to expand the app to other locations across the country, according to Shaver.
“Starting in January we’re going to look at different ways to find sustainable revenue models to roll out in other areas,” he said.
“We’re going to develop a business plan and test that business plan.”