An influx of new FEMA funding allowed the program to increase the total number of seniors receiving meals. This included seniors that previously had not qualified for other similar programs. The funding additionally allowed for new partners to be brought on, including local restaurants and commercial kitchens, who would provide some of the additional meals to area seniors. Taxicab drivers were brought on to assist with point-to-point meal delivery, picking up meals directly from restaurants or other sites and dropping them off at people’s homes. These industries – also hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, were looking for ways to get back to work.
In order to scale-up, Ondaro worked with the City of LA to develop an application based on the ServiceNow Emergency Response Application (ERA), providing the additional framework based on the program’s development – and additional funding requirements – for a true public-private partnership success story.
Dietary restrictions or food allergies were built into the system functionality, and participants are matched with a restaurant or kitchen in their area, using city data to confirm delivery locations nearest to a pickup point. This allows the taxi company to bring in bulk records into their routing system, and it helps plan routes and the number of taxi drivers needed for each day.