Bread, The App – Now a reality
Franco Savoia
In 2020, during the early months of Covid, RCCD and other Clubs donated to increase the supply of emergency food. Resulting from a conversation with Meaghon Reid and our own club member Steve Allan, Vibrant Communities Calgary, commissioned a study on accessing emergency food. The report, released in 2021 outlined 11 recommendations. Here’s how this evolved into “BREAD” the App!
One of the recommendations highlighted the need for coordination in the provision of emergency food in the city. Rotarians from a few clubs, Vibrant Communities Calgary and some providers began to meet to consider possible solutions to improve coordination. Through community conversations, different solutions were presented.In the winter of 2023, in discussions with Technology Helps, the notion of an app was identified with a budget of $80,000. RCCD, through its Major Donations Committee, was the first to commit $25,000. The West Club committed an initial $5,000. Then the United Way committed $25,000 and the Calgary Foundation $30,000.
Our own club member, Deb Hymers (NSTEP) assumed the role of fiscal agent for the project and signed an MOU with Technology Helps to develop the app in August 2023. Technology Helps began its work is September. After consultations with providers and Calgarians needing emergency food over the past 9 months, Bread is now developed.
The first onboarding session is taking place on June 26th with early adopters of emergency food providers. It is hoped that 40-50 providers will be on board in the next two months. Then, there will be a soft launch to inform the community of the app. It has been a long journey…and it is good to see it finally become a reality…with the help of Rotarians.