Amanda Gibbon (Program Manager || Link NYC / Intersection), Kevin Green (Program Manager || Link NYC / Intersection), Sean Taylor (Volunteer Engagement Associate || Food Bank), Chris McDermott (Volunteer Engagement Associate || Food Bank), Johny Vino (SVA), Arielle Royston (SVA)

New York City is home to 8.5 million people, many of whom wish they could give back to the community more than they do. The Food Bank of New York City is a charitable foundation fighting to feed the low-income population of New York City, but it needs volunteers to sustain the operation.  

Of the 50 states New York ranks 49th in volunteering rates. One of the most diverse and densely populated regions in the world fails to adequately serve the people that inhabit it.

Our desk research wasn't enough to measure volunteering habits of New York City residents. We needed to figure what made people tick and under what circumstances. Of the many things we surveyed people on two metrics that stood out were: potions that fit there schedule and the ability to see their volunteer results. WE made sure to find a way to include these attributes in our solution.

Using Link NYC kiosk as a starting point we envisioned what digital advertisements could say and the messaging around them. New Yorkers are constantly on the go and in-transit, kiosk provide a unique way to show them volunteer opportunities based on where they live. We started researching where this ads could live on New York streets to be the most effective. 

Link NYC provides a unique competitive advantage that other advertisement providers don't. Being able to reach NYC residents 24 hours and 7 days a week is a feat most digital industries  would love to have.With 1,200 kiosk around the city in 5 boroughs Intersection can do just that and most importantly show realtime data. The ability to show volunteer opportunities happening in your area and the amount of spots available was one of our major findings when surveying people.

If we wanted to make the process as easy as possible we had to show all the necessary information within the kiosk. This meant showing volunteer availability and event times based on location of the kiosk. This would show pedestrians events happing in their area based on urgency of need. 

Based on our research this is the minimum amount of things pedestrians need in oder to become volunteers. Showing them this is all possible in the span of 2-5 seconds during the commute is the challenge.

Unfortunately this project stalled given to a staffing vacancy at the Food Bank of New York. Once this position is filled the Food Bank will have the technical know how to set up an api that will be accessible to Intersection to show real time data on kiosk throughout the city.