The Erie County Legislature Minority Caucus recently sent a letter to GiftAMeal asking them to launch their services in Buffalo to help fight hunger. GiftAMeal is a mobile application that helps provide a meal to someone in need each time a user takes a photo at a participating restaurant. Users can then share their experience on social media to help provide a second (and even third) meal.

According to 2017 statistics, Buffalo is the 4th poorest city in the country with almost 30% of families living in poverty. Currently, GiftAMeal only operates in Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit.

“GiftAMeal would be a great addition to Erie County,” said Legislator John Mills. “We have an abundance of great restaurants and our communities are filled with kind and generous people.  This is a simple and creative way to help those in need while also supporting local businesses.  It’s a win-win.”

“People in every corner of our community live in poverty without consistent access to healthy meals,” said Minority Leader Joe Lorigo. “Many people want to help, but aren’t sure where to start. This mobile application makes it easy to fight hunger simply by taking a photo.  Everyone with a smartphone can do it.”

“All of us need to join our local food banks in the fight against food insecurity,” said Legislator Ed Rath. “When you go out to dinner at one of our many great restaurants, you see people taking photos of their meal for Instagram or Facebook all the time just for their friends to see. This is an opportunity to make it count.”

A copy of the letter is attached. More information about GiftAMeal can be found here.