Job statement
When my family needs food and my time and transportation and money are tight, I want to find a nearby
pantry that’s open when it’s convenient and stocks food we’ll actually eat without giving up my
privacy, so I can feed my family reliably and with dignity.
The job in two languages
- Nonprofit framing: Clients can’t easily tell which pantry is open when, where it is, or what it
stocks, and many won’t engage if it costs them their anonymity, especially clients worried about
safety (e.g. ICE). They end up traveling to the wrong place at the wrong time for food they may not use.
- Developer translation: A client-facing discovery + preferences app: searchable/mappable pantry
directory (hours, location, offerings, delivery/payment), an optional anonymous profile capturing food
preferences, and a lightweight anonymous feedback loop on what was received and eaten.
Process / Flow
Desired-state flow (from the designs): discover a pantry → check hours/location/selection against my
schedule → choose anonymously → pick up → optionally report what we ate/didn’t.
Current-state flow is a GAP: how clients find and choose pantries today (calling around, word of
mouth, online searching) needs interviews to document.
Use cases / user stories
Business case (why it’s worth building)
- Impact / theory of change: If clients can find the right pantry at the right time for food they’ll
use, we believe access improves, waste drops, and more people engage with support they’d otherwise skip.
- Market sizing: see market-research/sizing-data.md (Iteration 2)
Why it’s hard
Privacy and dignity are first-order requirements, not features. Anonymity must be real (no PII retained).
See sector/why-this-is-hard.md (stigma, access). Clients have limited
data plans and devices, so the experience must be light.