Treat Your Block (during COVID) - Social Innovation

This is a personal project launched with two friends to help NYC students and restaurants get through COVID. It launched within two weeks. Treat Your Block is an idea centered on serving two communities with one digital gift card. After we fundraised amongst remote workers through GoFundMe, we emailed restaurant delivery gift cards to public school students (whom we identify through social workers at schools or nonprofits who work with these students) and encouraged them to order from local restaurants. These gift cards effectively generate business for the local economy and help students get food while avoiding public spaces, get a break from cooking, treat their families, and give them a sense of control during a time where we all feel uncertain and powerless.