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A new app that helps people in need find a meal selects Santa Barbara as a pilot city

Angel Russell

A new app designed to help people in need find free meals is being tested in Santa Barbara.

Much like UberEats and DoorDash, the MealPass App allows people to get food from local restaurants and food vendors by using a mobile application.

But Kim Graham-Nye, co-founder of the MealPass App, said this app doesn’t have people paying to get the food order — since it’s meant to connect people who are food insecure with restaurants that have excess food.

“So think of the restaurant who at the end of the night has enough pasta for five more meals, or the grocery store where the deli counter might have three extra clubhouse sandwiches," Graham-Nye said. "Right now, all of that surplus food is going to waste.”

Instead of throwing the food out, restaurants can now put that food on the app, and an app user would get a push notification within three miles that says what the food is, and where to pick it up.

The app is currently being tested in Santa Barbara. Via Maestro 42 on State Street is one of the restaurants using the app.

“We are passionate about food, and we are passionate about people, and we are passionate about feeding people,” said Georges Bitar, who runs the restaurant with his wife Nicole.

Nikole Bitar said this app is filling a need in their community.

“Our community is dealing with homelessness, and dealing with hunger," Nicole said. " If we have an opportunity to help, we want to.”

Whether it’s a mistake order or extra meals that they can’t save, Georges said every day they have people driving up to pick up their Italian cuisine.

“It’s as simple as, they show us their phone, we give them a big smile, and we treat them like VIP and you hand them the bag," Georges said. " It doesn’t feel like it’s a donation. So I love that aspect of it.”

Restaurants that participate in the app are able to get tax deductions for their donations, and the app automates tracking and reporting for the IRS to make that process more simple for business owners.

Restaurant owners and users who are interested in the app can reach out to mealpassapp.org.

Angel Russell is a former KCBX News reporter who started her career in journalism as a reporter and producer for KREX on Colorado's Western Slope; she later moved to the Central Coast to work for KSBY as weekend anchor and weekday reporter. She holds a BA in journalism from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, and playing guitar and piano.
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