Brooklyn Donates is a charitable non-profit organization in Brooklyn, New York, that prioritizes the socio-economic well being of New York City neighbourhoods and small businesses.

The pandemic hit New York City hard. We were consistently checking in on each other and talking about what was happening. This was recurring for us, “Oh man this has closed down, that has closed down, that makes me really sad.” There was about a one week span when we saw many of the small businesses we know and love either having to pivot and completely change their business model, or close their doors entirely.

We were really struck by this, many long-term friends and businesses that were important to us were unsure if they could remain open or if they could pay their employees. They were overwhelmed with the lack of security and support — applying for small business loans, spending hours on the phone with the bank, all while trying to still run a business, manage employees, and set up new delivery platforms. We realized quickly they must not have time to post on Instagram — to get their voice out there. So we decided to start building a social media platform and website to gather all of this information and put it in a central location to spread the word about businesses that need help, their GoFundMe pages and inform people about other ways they could help the community. Shortly after, people began contacting us who wanted to donate but did not have one specific place they wanted to donate to, some of these people weren’t even from New York City, but wanted to help in some capacity. Eventually, we decided that we needed to start a central fund and become a non-profit organization so that we were able to accept donations directly and distribute grants to businesses in need.