Online marketplace connects the homeless with tasks in exchange for food

TaskTurtle proposes to enable users to assign homeless or elderly individuals specific tasks, in exchange for food, or $2.

Paperflops in Indonesia and TOUCH in South Africa are just two of the many social initiatives we’ve seen this year designed to provide people in poverty with work. Now in the US, TaskTurtle proposes to connect homeless or elderly people with individuals who have specific tasks and chores they can complete in exchange for food. TaskTurtle offers to crowdsource skilled and under-utilized workers to carryout household tasks, for example painting a garage door. Users post their task on the website and then select a person — known as “a turtle” — to take on the job. They then choose whether to reward them with sandwiches or USD 2. The mantra of TaskTurtle — “slow and steady wins the race”— refers to the story of the Hare and Tortoise, and “turtles” employed to complete posted tasks can therefore do so at their leisure. This, TaskTurtle explains, is why those setting the tasks pay so little, while the company does guarantee that all jobs will be completed eventually. While TaskTurtle is a spoof concept, pitched at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in September, there’s still ideas here for social entrepreneurs around the globe! Spotted by: Katharina Kieck