Stories and Updates
Summer in the 5th District
Summer has seen much action with the always-creative and hardworking Outreach Team of the Metropolitan Police Department's 5th district. Officers Ishby, Hamilton and others are always looking for new ways to live out the "We are here to help" motto, and Breadcoin has...
We’re in Baltimore Now!
Breadcoin has moved into its second major city with our spread into Baltimore, a natural next step and easy fit in a city where so many are working together to alleviate hunger and to care for those experiencing homelessness too. Just like in DC we are not only a coin...
Fox5 DC Features Breadcoin
Did you see our team members Cary Umhau and Pastor William Spence on Fox5 DC? Here's that feature.
Langston Area Explosion
Pastor William Spence, board member, Breadcoin leader and neighborhood captain too (and those are only his Breadcoin jobs; did we mention he ably leads Harvest Life Fellowship?)... well he's been busy signing up new Breadcoin vendors. The corner of Benning Roads and...
Food and groceries distribution events
Working together with a number of partners, we are excited to be operating in an additional way during this pandemic time. Folks are driving and walking up to various locations in the city, with different church and nonprofit partners hosting the events, and leaving...
Mother’s Day Surprise
The outreach team from the 5th District of DC's Metropolitan Police Department paid surprise visits to seniors and others in their area, dispensing roses, candles, and cookies and muffins from Breadcoin vendor Mission Muffins. This Mother's Day surprise was an...
Message from the Founder
Breadcoin's founder on why Breadcoin was created for such a time as this: Scott Borger is a Ph.D. economist who in 2016 partnered with Cary Umhau to create the Breadcoin food token that is feeding the community, supporting local food vendors, and providing loans to...
Breadcoin Microloans
Investors help vendors grow their businesses with low-interest loans that are paid back in Breadcoins. A unique feature of Breadcoin is our microloan program. We match investors with needs and desires that our vendors have to grow their businesses. Vendors with whom...
More about Mama’s
We love this radio story from several years ago about our vendor Mama's Pizza Kitchen, which is still going strong (and now accepting Breadcoins). Listen in to Rebecca Sheir of WAMU. Here's a snippet: Musa and Fatima have been in business in Anacostia since 2012. Here...
Membership Model
Much of Breadcoin was obvious from the beginning: We certainly knew the "why" (people are hungry, and we all can and should meet one another's needs). We knew where we would start (where our team was, in Washington, DC). We knew that there are many good-hearted people...
Our First Loan Payoff
Breadcoin had a glorious celebration of our three-year partnership with the Central Union Mission, DC and of the payoff of our first microloan, the lease of a food trailer for their Mission Muffins enterprise. WGTS 91.9 was broadcasting live, and we love the wonderful...
Kipp DC, Partner
Breadcoin and KIPP DC, a charter school, have an exciting new partnership. Our donor-funded Breadcoins go into the hands of the counseling staff at each of the three schools that serve Pre-K to eighth grade on the KIPP DC: Webb Campus in the Ivy City neighborhood....
Announcing Two New DC Vendors
WASHINGTON, DC – A DC-based organization announced two new participating vendors in Washington, D.C. accepting breadcoin tokens as payment for food and drinks at their establishments. Breadcoin is excited to welcome the new vendors serving the Anacostia and Ivy City...
Breadcoin and Ben’s Chili Bowl Team Up
Breadcoin partnered with DC legend, Ben’s Chili Bowl during the government shutdown in January, 2019 to ensure that workers without paychecks could receive a meal. Founded in 1958, Ben’s Chili Bowl is a landmark DC restaurant...
Feeding Feds During Shutdown Initiative
Join us in making a difference! Breadcoin Foundation, a DC-based nonprofit, is providing a way for the community to feed unpaid TSA and other government employees and support staff during the shutdown. Breadcoins are a food token...
Anacostia Community Clean-up Day
Community has always been at the heart of Breadcoin’s mission. The community food tokens are designed to foster engagement, generating face-to-face connections between people of all walks of life who call the same city home. That’s why it felt natural to team up with...
Jerry Gill
Jerry Gill is not the type of man you’d expect to have served 40 years in prison. Now in his mid-60s, Jerry has large, gentle eyes, and his short hair shares the same salt-and-pepper seasoning that President Obama developed in his last years in office, nature’s badge...
Ali’s Hot Dog Stand
Can a hot dog change a city? It’s not an idea you’ll hear discussed on Capitol Hill, but a new vendor in downtown Metro Center believes it’s true. In his old life, Ali was an Arabic professor at a university here in D.C. Today, he spends his days inside a tiny metal...
Announcing Two New Vendors
WASHINGTON, DC – A DC-based organization announced two new participating vendors in Washington, D.C. accepting breadcoin tokens as payment for food and drinks at their establishments. Cary Umhau (pictured above) is enjoying a hot dog at Ali’s Hot Dog Stand. Breadcoin...
Restorative Giving
Breadcoin is an organization established to return an upside down financial system right side up through the issuance of a giving token. Breadcoin intends to fuse global finance with the character of local barter and usher in a new era of restorative giving that meets...
The Breadcoin Approach
The vision of Breadcoin is to connect businesses that are feeding our community with people who want to give to those in need. A system that began in DC with a pilot location around Union Station is also being customized to fit Portland, Oregon's thriving food scene...