Our Mission Statement
The Users
The Flow
The QR Code (how it works)
The Merchant
The Donation Process
The landing page
Donation Page
Payment Page
Merchant Checkout
New Receiver Registration

Helping Hand

The Story

Helping Hand is a full-stack web solution that enables seamless donations to homeless people without smartphones/laptops. Powered by a Node/Express + PostgreSQL backend and a React frontend, Helping Hand utilizes a physical QR code printout that is distributed to the homeless. This QR code is their wallet, and can collect donations simply by having a passerby (a Giver) scan their QR code. Once the homeless person (which we call Receivers) has enough funds, they are able to visit a participating Helping Hands merchant (for food, clothes, etc.) and redeem their donation funds. We are particularly proud of the inclusivity and accessibility that our app provides.

Key Features:

No installation necessary: We use a progressive web-app to avoid the headache of native app installation
Studies show that PWA's are far better for engaging audiences
Automatic and immediate unique QR code generation
Instant transaction and donation updates via PostgreSQL
Elegant React client
Loads of error handling
Async/Await usage

Next Steps:

Integrating Credit Card API and/or PayPal
Implementing QR code recovery system

Built With

Submitted to

UBC Local Hack Day 2019 - Build Day: Powered by TTT Studios
- Winner First Place

Created by

I worked on the node/express/PSQL backend, contributing to the Receiver, Transaction, Merchant, and Donation areas. I also implemented the React frontend.

Kevin Choi
Senior ECE student at UBC. Hackathon Enthusiast.
I worked on the backend, specifically for handling requests for getting/creating donation information and making new transaction records for when Receivers redeem their funds at a merchant.

Edmund Oh
I worked on the backend, contributing specifically to the transaction/receiver portions of the project. LHD was my first hackathon and it was a great experience being exposed to topics such queries and working with Node, JavaScript, and SQL.

Gary Hwu