Tasks for Transit Inc. (TFT)
A non-profit corporation, founded in March 2015. TFT's primary mission is to provide free transportation for economically disadvantaged individuals in the greater Worcester area. TFT first and only program currently, is the Free WRTA Bus Day Pass Program, in which it buys the day passes in bulk from the WRTA and dispenses them through TFT's collaborative network of partner charities.

Who are the various stakeholders involved in the Tasks for Transit system?
There are many stakeholders such as our partner charities and our sponsors.

Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA)
The organization that provides bus service for Worcester and many of the communities in the greater Worcester area. WRTA day passes are one form of transit fare used when riding in the buses. A day pass is only good for one day. The date is stamped on the pass when presented to the driver upon boarding.

Recipients
Any individual that ultimately receives a free individual WRTA day pass for their personal use.

Partner Charities
TFT works through other charities to fulfill the TFT mission. TFT carefully selects a few of the many charities in the Worcester area to dispense individual day passes. They become the partner charities of TFT. TFT provides each partner charity with sets (typically 10 per month) of WRTA bus day passes to be dispensed. The partner charities tend to be those likely to have daily contact with the city's economically disadvantaged. An example would be one of the city's neighborhood centers.

Volunteers
An individual who generously donates time to help to improve the community, with no expectation of compensation. TFT itself is an all volunteer organization from the Board of Directors down to the part-time staff assistant.

Donors
Individuals and organizations that donate to TFT money or items of value. There are two contexts for donations:
1. Money used by TFT to run its operations and buy WRTA day passes in bulk.
2. Donations in kind, i.e., items of value, that TFT receives for its use or to resell to raise money.
Our donors include individuals, corporations, both for profit and non-profit, religious organizations, fraternal organizations, educational institutions, foundations and fund, clubs and government organizations.

What kind of volunteers is TFT looking for?
There are three prerequisites for a volunteer to participate in the TFT system. They must be able to work minimum supervision, own a computer and work at a location of their choosing, not the TFT office in Millbury. Our volunteers should be confident enough to make phone calls, conduct interviews and would be expected to use standard office software such as Word and Excel. A TFT volunteer will never see the actual recipients of the bus passes. We operate more like a wholesaler (TFT) dealing with a network of retailers (our partner charities).

Can any Non-Profit organization participate in Task for Transit?
No. For the foreseeable future we expect to only work with charities providing basic services to a client base that is mostly economically disadvantaged in the greater Worcester area.

What is a Partner Charity?
Partner Charities are existing charities (non-profits) in the greater Worcester area that TFT has specifically chosen to dispense individual free day passes. TFT gives each dispensing organization a limited number of WRTA bus day passes, e.g., 10, each month. Typically these are charities working directly with persons in need, which in most cases are people with very little income. TFT's Partner Charities are servicing these types of people on a daily basis and can recognize those who would benefit from a free day pass on a day-to-day basis. TFT's Partner Charities are on the front line of those serving the economic disadvantaged.

How do the "Partner Charities" decide who receives a free day pass?
There are no formal guidelines. Each dispensing organization is free to each chose each day pass recipient without TFT's involvement. The only TFT guideline is that it dispenses them to those who are in need. Typically this will be a different individual each time since personal situations are constantly changing and a need is therefore temporary.

Who is paying for these so called "free" day passes?
TFT pays for cost of the free day passes, which it buys in bulk from the WRTA. The funds to do this constitute a major part the TFT annual budget, and are raised through donations, both traditional and on-line, grants, events, and other methods. Ultimately the amount of funds we raise determines how fast TFT can scale up its operations. Donations of any size are appreciated.

Is my donation to TFT tax deductible?
Absolutely. Tasks for Transit Inc is a 501{c}(3) non-profit corporation, incorporated in Massachusetts.

Give me an example of a recipient?
An economically disadvantaged woman attended a free medical clinic held at one of Worcester's neighborhood centers. The clinic was free, but the physician wanted the woman to get a certain type of "scan" that would require her to go across the city. The neighborhood center was one of TFT's partner charities and was able to give a free day pass to the woman so she could get the scan and get home afterward. Other examples would be: a person transitioning out of a homeless shelter who needs to meet with prospective landlords, or an unemployed person going to a job interview.

How does the cost of the Free WRTA Day Pass Program relate to your total annual budget?
This is always a tough question for a small non-profit like TFT. There are some administrative expenses that must be incurred regardless of an organization's size, such as insurance policies, software licenses and government fees. 2018 will be the first year where the TFT program costs will be over 90% of the total annual budget. One reason this is better than most non-profits our size is that we are an all volunteer organization with no employees or contractors. Hence, there are no salaries or other employee rated expenses like workman compensation insurance. Our office space is donated so there are no expenses for rent, light and electricity.