HARRISBURG, Pa. — Taco Amigos has been adding flavor to downtown Harrisburg for three years. The restaurant on Second Street serves sizzling Mexican cuisine every day.
Soon after opening, co-owner Victoria Valencia said she started to notice a need.
"We were helping the homeless people around. Sometimes they were checking in the trash. Right in the front we have a trashcan from the city," Valencia said. "Sometimes they were looking and sometimes they would open the door and ask if we had something."
Last year, Valencia was approached about a potential solution.
Breadcoin, a non-profit with footholds in Baltimore and Washington D.C., was moving to central Pennsylvania.
Taco Amigos agreed to participate in their mission to feed the hungry.
The concept is similar to a cryptocurrency. Local churches, non-profits or individual donors can purchase Breadcoin from the organization and distribute the physical coin to people in need.
"It's pretty much money," Valencia said. "We tell them how many coins they need for food here with us."
Each coin costs $2.50 and can be used to buy food at 20 participating restaurants in Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg.
"They want these people to spend that coins on just food and nothing else," she said. "Not drugs or alcohol or stuff like that."
Breadcoins spend just like cash and they're discrete, giving anyone access to the restaurant experience.
The program doesn't just help the recipient, it's also supports local businesses.
"We are doing something good and we are receiving money for that," Valencia said. "It's good for the business but it's even more for the community."
To learn more about Breadcoin and to get involved, visit the organization's central Pennsylvania webpage.