The Winner Is…
Slingshot is happy to announce it has selected New Roots as the winner for its charitable Launch Initiative!
As the winning Louisville based non-profit organization, New Roots will receive the custom software design and development services of Slingshot to launch a brand new mobile application.
New Roots was founded in 2010 with the mission to ignite community power for fresh food access. They do this through community leader-driven Fresh Stop Markets that pop up biweekly in 16 underinvested Kentucky neighborhoods. Shareholders of the service receive heavily discounted fresh produce along with education and sharing about how to best utilize the produce to live a healthy lifestyle.
About New Roots, Inc.
New Roots Executive Director Karyn Moskowitz says the one thing you should know about New Roots is that “We want people to know we are here! That we exist, and that our innovation around fresh food access is the envy of other cities around the country. We want everyone to see us as the go-to organization for all things food justice in our region, and for our fellow Kentuckians to be proud of that and shout it from the rooftops (or from the mobile app!).”
Moskowitz continues, “We also want everyone to know that through sheer grit and community organizing, that a loose organization of limited-resource families have collectively become one of the largest purchasers of local, organic food in the region. That the demand is there and that family farms can make a living off of feeding us. And of course, that everyone can go to www.newroots.org to donate to fund this movement, volunteer, or get involved in other ways.”
The mobile app will allow New Roots shareholders to order their fresh food shares through the app, be reminded of upcoming markets near them, and highlight how to use and benefit from the market fresh produce.
Moskowitz says “So many people in our community have been shut out of eating healthy due to lack of resources and where they live. We had recently come to the realization that a mobile app was the most compassionate and efficient way to help everyone, a way to even the ‘local food playing field.’ This partnership with Slingshot means our organization can really step up now and unite communities in Kentuckiana and beyond around food justice.”
Slingshot’s Design Process
Before building the app, Slingshot will first go through their unique design process, interviewing New Roots shareholders to better understand how they might use the app, and then designing and testing the app in prototype form, ensuring what gets built will have the best chance of sustained success. Next, Slingshot developers will write code and release the app to the Apple and Google app stores.
The entire process from Design to App Store release is expected to take 3-4 months. A start date of the project has not yet been released.
Says Slingshot owner David Galownia, “We love our community. And we love to see how organizations can achieve greater scale and engagement through technology. During the process to pick a winner, we’ve gotten to know the people at New Roots and they are heavily invested and engaged in making this a success.”
Throughout the initiative, Slingshot and New Roots will release videos and photos to share the progress of the app. Anyone interested can follow Slingshot on Instagram (@heySlingshot), Twitter (@heyslingshot) or Facebook (@YSlingshot).
About the Launch Initiative
Launch is a non-profit initiative by Slingshot to donate our time and services to design and build a custom mobile application for one local non-profit organization. The donated services are valued at over $75,000.
“This organization was founded on the belief that fresh food is a basic human right.”
Karyn MoskowitzExecutive Director
