Is There an Easy Way to Help SNAP Recipients Online? Sort of, Yes

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance recipients in the United States are faring no better. Due to the government shutdown, the November payments from what we call the “food stamp” program not happening. There’s nothing you can do from your sofa using your smartphone, this horror show is going to fix that But you can actually help with a Band-Aid fix by donating This is the link.

Donations to this special campaign allow specific, eligible families to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). One time payment of $50 Instead of nothing, these are families with children, and they typically receive several hundreds of dollars in food benefits per month

Just know that there are aspects of it that you probably won’t like.

(Also know that you can donate and volunteer at a food bank in your area. They need it right now.)

Why does this actually work?

I was a little unsettled when I noticed how efficient and seamless this charity campaign could claim. An app called Propel and a charity called GiveDirectly—yes, one Courtesy of MrBeast And Effective altruism is something in the community— can deliver money to some of the country’s neediest people, and do so very quickly. In theory, you donate, and your money goes to some needy SNAP recipient within two days.

why It works, however, is another story. Propel is funded by a for-profit fintech company Andreessen Horowitz with Silicon Valley VC (A firm Associated with the MAGA movement) is voluntarily used by millions of benefit recipients in the United States because, for one thing, they like it, and for other reasons, such as the company Welfare recipients on Reddit maintain a heavy footprint in discussions. Propel appears to be a useful stopgap, patching up some of the clunkiness in the American social safety net. According to Propel, A quarter of SNAP recipients use its app. As such, it has a lot of access and data that a for-profit organization might not have in a good country

So Propel can determine who needs it the most, In his own words“Propel targets users in households of three or more who receive the highest SNAP allocation — a key indicator of extremely low or zero earned income.”

It’s cold logic. They are eligible for the biggest benefits because the government has determined they are struggling the most. GiveDirectly collects the money, and Propel knows who needs it within its app ecosystem. It then spreads the money through GiveCard (Which is another startup)

Should I trust Propel?

Funding the campaign with $1 million, it’s not hiding the fact that it’s a private firm hustling to make a name for itself in the fintech world. A “business case” exists for this app — meaning a potential revenue stream for the company, and you can hear Propel co-founder and CEO Jimmy Chen explain it in this interview on the Andrew Yang podcast three months ago.

Chen said the Propel app is a “hook” to get people to become users and get exposed to other functions of the app, which seems like a much more obvious way for the company to make money. At Propel, for example, Chen says benefits recipients are presented with to apply for deals and potential jobs.

So keep in mind if you donate to the GiveDrectly program (as I do) this campaign is a powerful way for Propel to market itself to people in need. After all, if, like most SNAP recipients, you haven’t downloaded and used the app, you’re not going to get the $50.

Gizmodo has reached out to Propel for comment, and will update when we hear back.