Free meals for neighbors, paid for by neighbors.
Donors fund restaurant meals. Anyone who needs a meal can reserve one for free and pick it up at a local restaurant partner. No ID, no paperwork, no questions about need.
Run a restaurant, shelter or outreach team? Partner with us
Live meal counts
Right now
funded meals not yet reserved
So far
- funded online
- —
- served
- —
Live counts load when you visit.
How can we help?
How it works
Four groups make every meal happen. Here is what each one does.
- Donors
Fund meals
Anyone can give, once or monthly. Each gift funds whole restaurant meals and goes into a shared community meal pool.
- Restaurant partners
Cook and serve
Local restaurants apply, get set up with our team, and serve funded meals at the counter. They are paid for every meal they serve.
- Neighbors
Reserve a meal
Anyone who needs a meal reserves one for free, online with a free account or on a restaurant's counter tablet where there is one, then picks it up.
- Community partners
Hand meals out
Shelters and outreach teams order meals in bulk from restaurant partners and bring them to people who can't get to a restaurant.
Behind the scenes, the Pay It Forward team reviews every partner application, helps each partner get started, and pays restaurant partners for the meals they serve. More about how it works
Partner with us
Meals only reach people when local restaurants and community groups take part. Our team walks every new partner through setup.
Run a restaurant?
Serve funded meals at your counter and get paid for every one. Reservations show up on your Today's meals screen.
For restaurantsRun a shelter or outreach team?
Order meals in bulk from restaurant partners and hand them out to the people you serve, at no cost to your organization.
For community partnersReady now? Start an application. Want to spread the word? Print cards and signs from the outreach toolkit.
Where your gift goes
Pay It Forward is a program of the Foundation for Innovation in Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 33-2320329). Gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, and every gift gets a receipt by email.
Most of each gift is the meal itself. A small part covers card processing, and a small program fee keeps Pay It Forward running. You see the exact amounts before you pay.
It started on a coffee shop wall in Mesa
Pay It Forward began as a pay-it-forward board at Beanchain Coffee in Mesa, Arizona. Customers paid for a meal in advance, a card went up on the board, and anyone who needed a meal took a card down. No form, no line, no questions.
The board only worked if you were standing in front of it. This site takes the same idea to many restaurants, with a record of every meal. We're starting across the Phoenix metro, and it's built to work anywhere in the US.
Questions?
Who can get a free meal?
Anyone who needs one. There is no ID, no paperwork and no questions about why. Neighbors in the community paid for the meals, so they are free to you.
How does donating work?
Choose how many meals to fund and pay by card through Stripe's secure checkout. Your gift goes into a shared community meal pool. When a neighbor picks up a meal, the restaurant partner that served it is paid from the pool. You don't need an account to give once.
How does my restaurant join?
Start an application online. Our team reviews it and helps you get set up: a partner agreement you sign online, payout setup, and a short training before you go live, where your staff walk through Today's meals and meal codes. After that, neighbors can reserve meals at your counter, and we confirm your first real meal at a check-in 30 days after you go live.