The builder's path
For: People who want to help US food banks can't see what their local pantry is short of this week.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ
Routes to a solution
Each route is a different kind of journey, with real people and organisations to contact at each step, starting with those in New Mexico.
Step 1
Join an impact incubator
Shape a model that pays for itself without excluding the people who need it.
Volunteer data scientists working with social-sector organisations.
Accelerator for tech nonprofits.
Patient capital and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Fellowships and seed funding for social innovators.
Step 2
Raise patient capital
Impact funds and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Volunteer data scientists working with social-sector organisations.
Accelerator for tech nonprofits.
Patient capital and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Fellowships and seed funding for social innovators.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
Directory of member food banks to seed locations.
New Mexico's largest food bank, which supplies many smaller pantries.
Starter prompt
Built from this problem's brief. Paste it into Claude or any AI assistant.
Help me design and build a first working prototype for this problem in New Mexico and Oregon, United States. Problem: People who want to help US food banks can't see what their local pantry is short of this week. Who it hurts: Small food banks and pantries facing more visitors, and the neighbours, churches and businesses that want to donate. The moment it hurts: A pantry's freezer runs low on meat at month's end, while donors drop off whatever they have at home. What people do today: Pantries tape lists of what's gone to the wall or post on social media; donors guess and often bring items that are already in stock. Why it is still unsolved: Small pantries have no staff time for inventory systems, and needs change faster than a website or newsletter is updated. What solved looks like: A pantry volunteer updates a short 'we need' list from a phone in under a minute, and donors nearby see the current list on a map and can sign up for a text when a particular item runs out. Where: New Mexico and Oregon, United States First, list what you would need to learn from the people affected before building, as interview questions. Then propose the simplest version that would help, the screens or messages it needs, and the data it would use. Keep it cheap to run, accessible, and respectful of people's privacy. Flag anything you are unsure about instead of guessing.
Talk to the people who live it before you build.
“The true creator is necessity, which is the mother of our invention.”
Get a working version in front of people fast.
Using AI is not cheating. Every tool carries the work of the people who made it, and using it well is how knowledge has always moved forward. The thinking, the care for the people who live the problem, and the judgement are still yours.
“The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
Open data that fits this problem.
“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it: this is knowledge.”
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“Your right is to the work alone, never to its fruits.”
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन
karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“As to diseases, make a habit of two things: to help, or at least to do no harm.”
ἀσκέειν περὶ τὰ νουσήματα δύο, ὠφελέειν ἢ μὴ βλάπτειν
Kit written for this problem from its brief; every link was checked. Links go to each provider's own site. Zetema is not paid for any listing.