The Coupon Collective: help the hungry and shop for the holidays

Before COVID, 1 in 13 residents of Eastern Massachusetts went hungry. This year, it will be 1 in 8.

The pandemic has marked a year riddled with unemployment, food insecurity, housing crises, and illness. The upcoming holidays will be bleaker than usual, without family gatherings and travel—but for many in Massachusetts, without a proper meal on their plate either.

The Coupon Collective—a volunteer organization led by seniors Joel George, Rhea Karty, Davin Martin, and Jishnu Ghosh of Lincoln-Sudbury—has decided to address the upcoming food shortages at The Greater Boston Food Bank.

Joel reflects upon what food insecurity means for the community right now: “Of course, hunger is horrible, and the holidays are the time to have nice meals with family, which just makes it all the worse.”

And thus, The Coupon Collective has reopened their doors for their second fundraiser: Together Against Hunger. Once again, local students will be putting their talents up for sale, and the profits will go directly to The Greater Boston Food Bank. Senior Rhea Karty stresses the importance of giving back to the community. “Usually people like to volunteer during the holiday season, but now volunteering is limited [due to COVID]. So this is a great way for people to engage in the holiday spirit without putting themselves or others at risk.”

Coming off the success of their first fundraiser, which culminated in $3,000 raised for The Pine Street Inn, The Coupon Collective has created new features. With their own bank account, they can now offer refunds for various products. Their site, run by LS senior and local webmaster Davin Martin, boasts even more local services—some new, some returning favorites. Some of these, from handmade pasta to landscaping to custom vocal performances, are oddly niche indeed.

For Joel, Rhea, Davin, and Jishnu, The Coupon Collective has brought them closer to their community while letting them tackle issues such as hunger and homelessness. “I think that oftentimes in school, we have hard times talking about things other than school,” Rhea notes. “And this has allowed me to see how interesting all of my classmates are, and opened my eyes to the people that I see every day.”

Joel echoes this sentiment: “When I first had this idea, it was a crazy thing. High schoolers selling stuff, I didn’t think it was going to work out. But I reached out to some of my friends...people who I knew were really good at something really specific…and this helped me see, like Rhea said, how much love there is in the community.”

Perhaps that really is the holiday spirit after all.

If you would like to donate to The Coupon Collective, head here: https://thecouponcollective.org/