By Latrishka Thomas
In an age where fundraisers can be difficult to execute, there is now a modern and contactless way to “help people help people”.
This is through the ‘Simple Support app’ – the brainchild of Dwayne Simon.
It is intuitive software that connects donors with persons who are in need; you can help vulnerable members of society from the comfort of your home, with the touch a button.
Simon, the executive director of the app, explained that the idea was “to provide assistance to persons in need. Initially, the goal was to focus on families that are struggling financially to provide food for their households, but it has expanded to offer a variety of support”.
One of the directors of the initiative, Dr Nneka Hull-James, further explained they have observed that “there are situations where persons may not quite know how to get in contact with a family, or how to help”.
“The Simple Support app provides that platform in this age of the pandemic where we really need to think of digital and new types of ways to help persons,” she said.
So, after seven months of fine-tuning the app, persons can express their philanthropy in a very easy way.
Farida Isaac-Carr, another director, said that she herself is not tech savvy, but through Simple Support, donating is “so easy [that] I can go online and simply support a family out there”.
Dr James added that after downloading the app, one can contribute any amount to a specific or general cause, “and then the income is pooled through this very transparent app”.
With the funds collected, the Simple Support group is able to provide donations to families who are in need through grocery vouchers.
“We are doing this in collaboration with the Central Marketing Corporation (CMC) and we would have specifically chosen that supermarket because CMC has a lot of experience with this type of work,” James stated.
She continued, “Of course, our intent is to feed families who are in need, however, we are aware that we live in a real world and sometimes while our intent is to help families in need, some persons may try to take advantage and purchase items that are not considered groceries that persons may need, for example, liquor.”
The doctor further revealed that CMC was selected because it also prevents “things like wholesale purchases in case anyone tries to take the voucher to buy items and sell over”.
The Simple Support app is available from the Google Play and Apple stores.
Anyone with queries can call 775-6837.