FAQ
How does it work?
For the restaurant: It's simple. Using your current menu, pick a 1 person meal offering of 3-6 menu items. Set one price that is fair for any of those items. We will put your offering on our drive site and take care of all the transactions for you. At the end of the drive, we will cash you out, and come get vouchers from you. Most restaurants use an existing gift card or customize one they can easily print. We can help you with this. We pass these out to our nonprofits, who distribute them over time to their clients. People will start redeeming the vouchers 1-3 weeks after you have been cashed out! Your effort, my design, is minimal.
For the donor: In just a couple clicks on our donation site, roonga.com/appetiteforgoodcsa, you help a restaurant stay alive, help a family eat, and get a tax deduction. It's a virtuous win-win-win cycle. Go to the site, pick your favorite restaurants, select a quantity of meals vouchers to buy, and check out. It takes 5 minutes tops! You can be anonymous. If you provide your information, you will get a receipt for tax purposes.
For the recipient: Recipients get vouchers from CSA, through a number of programs. They can go to the restaurant and order a meal of their choice as noted on the voucher at no cost to them. They typically have 2-3 months to redeem the voucher. Based on the huge smiles of voucher recipients, we know this experience is much more than a meal to them.
For the nonprofit: We would love to work with you. Drop us a line mvfoodhelp@gmail.com, and we'll discuss how we can help you.
How do people donate meals?
Technically, we are selling and delivering vouchers for a meal. Just go to roonga.com/appetiteforgoodcsa. We are giving people vouchers instead of cooked meals for a variety of reasons. Logistically, it is much easier for restaurants to take vouchers over a period of time, and not an order for a crush of hundreds of meals at one moment on a given day. It is easier for our nonprofits not to transport and safely manage hot food. We also firmly believe that our recipients love going to a restaurant, picking a meal of their choice, and enjoying an every day, humanizing experience.
I'd like my company to make a corporation donation or provide matching funds, how can we do this?
We are working on making this possible now!
How are the restaurants compensated?
Donors buy vouchers online. At the end of a drive (approx 3-4 weeks after it starts), we cash out the entire revenue raised, taking no fees, and give it directly to the restaurant in one lump sum.
I'm a restaurant, can I join?
Absolutely! We are working with Mountain View and Los Altos as our focus, but plan to expand into Sunnyvale and other nearby cities soon. Drop us a line at mvfoodhelp@gmail.com and we'll start getting you ready!
What geographies do you serve?
Through CSA, we are serving people in Mountain View, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills, but we plan to expand to neighboring cities!
I'm a nonprofit who would like to be a beneficiary, how do I join?
Just drop us a line at mvfoodhelp@gmail.com and we will discuss your situation and sign you up!
How did you get the idea?