Hi, we're The Kindness Project ❤️

The Kindness Project is on a mission to help the vulnerable amongst us get support during the current pandemic.

Put simply, we connect those in your area who can help with those who need it.

Contents

• Hi, we're The Kindness Project ❤️
  • Contents
  • Why does the world need The Kindness Project?
  • How it works
  • For Developers
    • Configuration
    • Development
      • Dependencies
      • Releasing
    • Changelog

Why does the world need The Kindness Project?

The Kindness Project was inspired by the heartwarming community responses to the COVID-19 pandemic we've seen across the globe. In particular, thousands of mutual aid Facebook groups have popped up, filled with posts from those offering and requesting help from their local community.

However, these groups have a big problem. If I wish to offer help, it's unlikely that the person who needs it most will find my post. Similarly, if I require help, it's difficult for me to find the post most relevant to me.

The Kindness Project aims to remove the friction in connecting those who are willing to help with those who need it.

How it works

1. Select whether you need help or are willing to offer it
2. Search for your location
3. Browse the results for posts from nearby neighbours who can help you or who require your help. The tags on a post can help you identify which are relevant to you.
4. If you find a suitable result, simply reply to the post to get in touch with the author via email
5. If there are no suitable results, you can create a post to request or offer help for your community to see

For Developers

Configuration

You must provide the following runtime environment variables. You can add them to a .env in the project root.

Variable	Description
NODE_ENV	One of development, production
PORT	The port binding for the server
SENDGRID_API_KEY	SendGrid API Key
MONGODB_URI	The connection string for the Mongo instance

Development

See targets in Makefile.

Dependencies

The following tools need to be installed on your machine and available in your PATH:

• node (v10.16.3)
• yarn
• concurrently
• docker
• heroku
• make

Releasing

To create and push a release:

make release tag={tag}

This will:

1. Build a fresh image
2. Ask you to log in with Heroku
3. Create and push the new tag
4. Tag and push the image to the heroku registry
5. Deploy the application

Changelog

You need to update the changelogs file before each release. In order to update the changelogs file run the following:

make changelog

When you are ready to make a commitment and tag the next release, use this target and pass in the next tag:

make changelog_release tag=v1.0.1