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USVetsDeliver

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I was recently laid-off from a non-essential job due to the COVID-19 Crisis. Almost immediately I began thinking of ways I could both be most useful in my community during this national emergency.

What struck me was that in such a crisis, small rural communities like ours in Humboldt County, Ca could not get something as basic as grocery delivery service from large grocers. Even though these services are commonplace in large metropolitan areas such as the San Francisco Bay.

What I also hit upon was that I could provide delivery service to my community, while also helping to protect grocery employees, customers, and a team of delivery people from incidental exposure to the Coronavirus. So I quickly got to work running the numbers to see how much it would cost to buy delivery vans, employ ten drivers,  and begin providing this service in my own community. I thought, "What better way could I and other veterans in the area serve our community during this crisis?"

After a couple weeks of getting together all the associated costs, labor expenses, business expenses, etc, I came to the conclusion I could offer grocery (and possibly pharmacy) delivery service to my community cheaper than a personal shopper, while paying delivery drivers a decent wage of at least $18/hr. 

So I used what money I had to built a website, USVetsDeliver  and began setting up the business. While sheltering in place and spending the better part of a month and a half putting it together I had an epiphany. "What if I could help set up the exact same sort of business in other under-served communities in California, or even across the United States?" That would help hundreds of thousands, or millions of people during the crisis, while employing others who were out of work. They wouldn't need to be veterans, just folks who wanted to help their communities.

I named the business USVetsDeliver because as a veteran I've always had a commitment to serve, and I felt working with veteran organizations might be the quickest way to deploy this business in many communities.

So I contacted my local Small Business Development Center, (SBDC) and started checking out resources they had available. Naturally, resources are sparse right at the moment, due to the Small Business Administration (SBA) trying to help out businesses with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses struggling to pay employees who are out of work.

Options for financing this startup seemed daunting. Facing this situation, I decided  maybe conventional ideas weren't the key to solving this unconventional problem during an emergency.

So here I am looking for donations and investments in a business which will bring employment to struggling families, and a much needed service to thousands in our community during the COVID-19 crisis.

The sooner we reach our goal, the sooner we can help lots of people. From that point on, it should be completely self-funding. More important to me are the 135,000 residents of Humboldt County who will benefit from this service. 

I completely understand if you don't have the money to donate or invest in USVetsDeliver. Many Americans are suffering right now and don't know where their next paycheck is going to come from. But if you'd still like to help please Share this GoFundMe with as many people as possible. All together we can do great things in our community!

The amount of assistance you will be offering by donating or investing in USVetsDeliver is nothing less than phenomenal. We have one simple goal, help as many Humboldt County residents as possible.

Donations versus Investments: Amounts of less than $1,000.00 will be considered a donation to USVetsDeliver. Amounts of $1,000.00 or more will be considered an investment in USVetsDeliver business.

In consideration that investments in USVetsDeliver will be taking the place of an SBA Loan, I think it's only right  investors in USVetsDeliver earn the rate (of 9.75% APR) we would have otherwise paid an SBA Lender. We would only require $1,000 from 450 Investors, or $100 from 5,000 Donors to start helping out the thousands of people in need in Humboldt County right now.

The initial investment period will end once we've met our delivery capacity. Don't miss out on investing at the ground level and earning a decent return on your investment, while offering much needed help in our community.

For information about Investing in USVetsDeliver and our efforts to help as many communities as possible please contact us at:

  1-877-7USVETS    (877) [phone redacted]

Thank You so much for your time and compassion,

Sincerely, 

James Richards
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $1,200 
    • 3 yrs
  • ROXANNE LOGET
    • $7,000 
    • 3 yrs
  • Mark Wolfe
    • $100 
    • 4 yrs
  • Ramona Gasdik
    • $100 
    • 4 yrs
  • Catherine Mclean
    • $100 
    • 4 yrs
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Organizer

James Richards
Organizer
Ferndale, CA

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