The Hopemakers

The Hopemakers

The coolest vending machine in NYC gives free food to those in need

Community Mission #4, funded by your supporter contributions

Jacob Simon's avatar
Jacob Simon
Jun 26, 2026
∙ Paid

New York City is widely considered one of the most diverse in the world. Within the melting pot is a beautiful intersectionality of cultures, cuisines, languages, people, and activities that you can’t find anywhere else.

When I heard about a type of vending machine in The Bronx unlike any I’d seen before, I starting digging into some research to see what the weirdest, coolest, most unique, and most impactful vending machines in the city were.

A few of the machines I checked out

And after finding six viable contenders for the best vending machine in NYC, I ran all around the city to test them out and see which deserves 1st place.

This turned into our latest community mission!

For those of you that don’t know: I put all of the funds raised your by paid memberships to this newsletter into a pool. I then search for an everyday hero, make a creative video showcasing their work, volunteer to help them out, and donate some of this pool to help their project. So all of this was possible because of your support!

Enjoy the latest episode to see where this vending machine journey took me:

Community Mission #4 Impact Report

Here’s the full break down of where your funds went, and the impact they had.

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