Coronavirus Shopping: Crowdsourcing Website Helps You See Which Stores Have High-Demand Items
WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - There's no denying, it has been a bear to find the basics essentials in stores. Sometimes you can find bread, other times you can find eggs, but it's almost impossible to find toilet paper or hand sanitizer.
Some stores stopped answering calls about what's in stock.
"We're seeing things are running off the shelves, can't find toilet paper or hand sanitizer or whatever," said Trevor Violette.
That's what got him and his brother Chris thinking about ways to make it easier. Chris is a web developer and together they came up with the crowdsourcing website, Quarantin.io.
"There were definitely some hurdles to overcome and challenges to figure out how to pass the data around in different places and how to collaborate," said Chris.
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Basically, you go to the store, you see which high demand items they have, such as eggs, milk, and disinfectant wipes, then you report it on the website.
"It's about being generous with your community and taking the extra 15 seconds to as, yes this item is here," said Trevor.
It can be a struggle in this new norm, but Trevor hopes that limiting the number of stores you run to will help curb the spread of COVID-19.
"To make it plain and simple, we just want to help people. Both of us grew up in a family of giving and caring for others and really wanting to help the community in any way we can," said Trevor.
The website was made with volunteer hours and paid for out of pocket. The brothers say they weren't trying to make money. In fact, when we're past all of this, they hope to post a message of thanks before taking it down.
