The NGO Bitcoin Argentina is advancing the Community Kitchen Project to give visibility to volunteer hours. The first implementation is expected in early 2020 in Buenos Aires.
A proposal with a social impact to make visible the work of volunteers in Argentina, using a blockchain, was made by the NGO Bitcoin Argentina in order to encourage collaboration among neighbors and promote aid to the neediest in community kitchens.
The plan, called “Community Kitchen Project,” aims to give value to the volunteer hours that hundreds of people dedicate to helping the most vulnerable through the tokenization of their effort. Bitcoin Argentina indicated that the number of tokens received by participants will depend on the time that they devote to the work in the community kitchens.
The NGO explained that the initiative seeks to recognize the effort through the delivery of points (tokens) for the voluntary work done by neighbors, which can then be exchanged for food within the stores located in the neighborhood, and highlighted its intention to promote neighborhood collaboration and boost the local economy.
The organization stressed that the first implementation will occur in early 2020 in the community kitchen and the “Casa Cambalache” cultural spaces in Buenos Aires. This space initially cared only for boys and girls, but currently serves food to over 300 people daily. It should be noted that the volunteers that have dedicated more than 15 years will now benefit from their efforts.
Technical Aspect and Tests
Regarding the technical aspect, the project involves TokkenIt, an application developed by Koibanx on RSK technology. The latter is a platform for the development of smart contracts as a side chain on Bitcoin. TokkenIt is an application based on blockchain technology to develop loyalty programs.
Preliminary tests have been recently conducted in the aforementioned community kitchen in which the participants found the application easy to use, according to Bitcoin Argentina. This opens the doors to a smooth implementation at this first stop and those that might arise in the future.
Ivania Luyo, a member of the Community Kitchen Project team, considers that the objective is to replicate the idea in other Argentine vulnerable neighborhoods.
The project participant said that the intention is to give greater visibility to the great effort made by people in community work, and thus generate more support among all the actors involved, donors, businesses and volunteers.
Blockchain with a Social Impact
The use of blockchain technology in projects with a social impact is increasing worldwide. A growing number of non-profit organizations or public and private sector institutions look more closely at this tool as a mechanism to help those who need it most.
In July 2018, the spokeswoman for the Digital Single Market of the European Commission, Nathalie Vandystadt, stated that blockchains “have the potential to benefit society.” She cited that the World Program for Food (WFP) in Jordan uses this technology to distribute supplies to serve more than 10,000 people in refugee camps, while in Finland a blockchain has been used since 2015 to provide accounts and debit cards to newly arrived refugees.
The Blockchain for Humanity awards were also established in the crypto-ecosystem, as an initiative to award projects with a social impact, which already reached its third edition in 2019.
By Willmen Blanco
