Plate Share

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As an owner of not one, not two, not three, but four small businesses (blogs, speaking engagements, the clinic, Vitamins for Vegetarians…whew), I absolutely love it when people take an idea and run with it.  That’s why I want to tell you about my friend, Katie Levans of Sweet Tater Blog, and her genius idea – Plate Share.

plate share

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Katie says it best when she wrote:

 

I have this idea that keeps me up at night and leads me to the library on a never-ending quest to learn more but somehow understand less. I have this idea that breaks my heart and gives me hope and sparks my soul on fire all at the same time. I have this idea that if we all give a little, it adds up to a lot. I have this idea that there is enough food on this planet to feed everyone, that our collective good is greater than the sum of our parts, that small actions make big change, and that we, humankind, will not go on believing that hunger is a problem without a solution.  I have this idea, and I need your help.

 

Don’t you just love the idea of a really great idea that keeps you up at night? I sure do.  And Plate Share really is a great idea.  It’s a “social food photo-sharing smart phone application” that rounds up your grocery or restaurant bills to the nearest dollar, donating the rest of the money to feed the hungry through Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest).  Then, users would post photos of their meals on social networks to encourage others to join in the efforts. 

 

As Katie says, “It’s simple… Give change. Make change.”  Katie has calculated that, if she can implement her idea, she’d donate an average of $12 a month to feed the hungry in America without even ‘trying.’  She wrote, “I tracked my food spending for the months of November and December to see how much money I would’ve donated to Plate Share had it existed. On average, my change added up to $12 a month. Doesn’t seem like much, I realize; it’s negligible in the grand scheme of my budget. But what if you did it, too? And what if all 1,600 of my Facebook friends did, too? And all of yours? And all 3,000 Twitter followers? And all of yours? And so on and so on and so on… I’m not a wealthy person, but if I can afford to eat out, I can afford to give change to make change.”

 

Hunger in America exists for over 50 million people. That is 1 in 6 of the U.S. population – including more than 1 in 5 children. (Source)

 

Katie’s idea is still in the development stages, but she’s presenting the concept at Startup Weekend Charlotte.  She hopes to find a team of developers, designers, and donors passionate excited enough to launch the project right away.  Whether she’s a success at Startup Weekend depends on us!

plate share

If you think her idea is great, here’s how you can help draw attention to her efforts and thus increase the odds that she’ll get the concept off the ground:

 

Twitter

  • Follow @plateshare on Twitter
  • When you dine out, take a picture of your plate and tweet: “Hey @startupwkndCLT, this plate could help #endhunger. Support @sweettaterblog & the @plateshare project so I can donate $0.xx!” [Fill in the x’s with the amount of change it would take to round your bill to the nearest dollar.]
  • When you buy groceries, take a picture of your receipt and tweet: “Hey @startupwkndCLT, my groceries could help #endhunger. Support @sweettaterblog & the @plateshare project so I can donate $0.xx!” [Fill in the x’s with the amount of change it would take to round your bill to the nearest dollar.]
  • Tweet: “I believe in the @plateshare project. Support @sweettaterblog at @startupwkndCLT to help #endhunger”
  • Tweet: “Give change, make change. Support @sweettaterblog and the @plateshare project at @startupwkndCLT to help #endhunger”

Instagram

  • When you dine out, take a picture of your plate and add the caption: “Hey #startupwkndCLT, this plate could help #endhunger. Support @sweettaterblog & the @plateshare project so I can donate $0.xx! #plateshare” [Fill in the x’s with the amount of change it would take to round your bill to the nearest dollar.]

Facebook

Bloggers

  • Link to Katie’s post from your blog and encourage others to do the same
  • Tweet the living hell out of all of this!
  • Post this to your blog’s Facebook page
  • Follow @plateshare on Twitter

 

Go, Katie, Go!

{ 16 comments }

 

  • Liz @ Tip Top Shape January 24, 2013, 11:34 am

    This is such a great idea. I will definitely be promoting it!

  • Kierstan @ Life {and running} in Iowa January 24, 2013, 11:45 am

    Genius idea!!

  • Lisa January 24, 2013, 11:51 am

    You forgot to mention that most importantly she was on the bachelor, which means up close and PERSONAL with Mr. Sean Lowe. hehe 😀

    • Emily January 25, 2013, 7:56 am

      I thought of this immediately!!

  • Kristin January 24, 2013, 12:53 pm

    I can sleep through anything and fall asleep anytime, anywhere that is until recently! I decided to open a cafe in a small, but struggling neighborhood in Philadelphia, hoping to be a center for change and growth! That keeps me up and night! Making a difference is worth losing sleep over!

    This is a fantastic idea and I am behind it all the way!

  • Katie @ Peace Love & Oats January 24, 2013, 1:29 pm

    Um, this sounds amazing! What a great idea!

  • Katie @ Talk Less, Say More January 24, 2013, 2:10 pm

    Such a great idea! I wish her so much luck and will do my best to help and show support!

  • Nicole January 24, 2013, 2:39 pm

    I JUST started a blog last week to talk about fitness, health, and my journey toward becoming a Certified Personal Trainer. I don’t have many posts or followers…YET…but I’m definitely posting about Plate Share and Katie’s awesome idea. This is also a shameless plug for wethreelocals.blogspot.com :] however, I’m way down with Katie’s app idea and will promote her through and through!

  • Michelle January 24, 2013, 3:39 pm

    Maybe I’m being dense, but I don’t get how this actually raises money. Does the app give me a bill at the end of the month for the equivalent of all the round ups from the receipts I’d log? And I don’t really get how the picture of the food comes into play at all. I think its probably a good idea, but I iz confuseled!! 🙂

  • Gloria January 24, 2013, 4:13 pm

    That’s a great idea. My grocery store does this a few times a year for our local food bank and they raise lots of money!

  • Nikole January 24, 2013, 4:43 pm

    Michelle, I was wondering the same thing. I think it is an awesome idea but curious how the money will be “taken”.

  • Micky January 24, 2013, 7:46 pm

    I guess I have the same question. How would anyone get the excess money?

  • Ashley January 24, 2013, 10:23 pm

    I will definitely be tweeting the heck out of this and blogging about it! What a genius idea:)

  • Carla Runs the World January 25, 2013, 7:27 am

    I love the idea, but having seen hunger in the US, and then hunger across the world — it is a whole different beast. I’d love to join if it was a world-wide thing vs just the US. Gosh, there are (poor) businesses here in the Philippines that actually get leftover food (a lot of times rotten!) from fast food garbage, recook it, and sell it for pennies — and some people can only afford to eat a plate of that a day (some can’t even afford that!). Now THAT is true need. (And this is just here in the Philippines… We all know it’s a small portion of famine in the world.) I’m not saying her cause is not worthy, but if you’re talking hungry, the US doesn’t even scrape the surface.

  • My Neon Running Shoes January 25, 2013, 7:56 am

    This is a great idea! I will definitely try to contribute in any way I can! Thanks for sharing.

  • Jillian of Baby Doodah! January 27, 2013, 4:50 pm

    I think this is a wonderful idea and am absolutely sharing this on my blog!! How easy it is for us all to help fight hunger!!

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