Second Round Of RAD Card Funds Now Available
(Click here to view an updated story on RAD Card)
Sonora, CA — If you were unable to take advantage of the Tuolumne County matching fund RAD Card program, the second round of funds are now available so, if interested, don’t delay.
Tuolumne County’s Director of Innovation and Business Assistance Cole Przybyla announced this afternoon that as of 3 p.m., “The RAD Card program has an additional $89,000 for community matches.”
The first $500,000 in matching federal American Rescue Plan dollars from the Coronavirus Recovery Act was gobbled up within a week, as reported here. The additional $100,000 in funds given by the Sonora Area Foundation and its donors, as detailed here, is not expected to last long either. The actual funds available for matching came out to $455,000 and $89,000 respectively due to program and app costs.
“My guess is that because we are approaching the holidays there is still a lot of collective interest in the program,” stated Przybyla. “So, if you are interested in receiving a match, you should not delay. You should go onto the RAD Card app on your smartphone…before this weekend and deposit your hundred bucks to get your hundred-dollar match. You’ll then have two hundred bucks to go out and spend out in our 150 plus businesses that are verified to accept RAD Card Funds.” The matching funds can be purchased in increments of $25 up to $100.
The true benefit of this program, Przybyla points out, “We have guaranteed that $455,000 plus is staying in the county of Tuolumne during the holiday season where very likely those funds would be going on to online retailers our outside of our region.”
It is so successful in getting the community engaged in shopping in local stores and contributing to the local economy that state officials have even taken an interest, according to Przybyla. He detailed, “They’ve [state officials] seen how successful we were in getting funds out into the community within a week and they called asking more questions. It’s exciting that there is interest and leadership in terms of Tuolumne County inspiring state-level programs potentially.”
A second allocation of federal dollars could potentially come next year, noted Przybyla due to the program’s success. Regardless of some bugs in the first round that included glitches in the app and some individuals trying to scam the system, he is recommending this program continue and even expand, “Going forward I’m going to be looking at a way to utilize state and federal grants and potential even private industry contributions and philanthropic endeavors. So, I think there are a lot of ways that we can continue this program into the future.”
Click here for how to access the app. Przybyla also gave this tip when using the app if people have problems seeing their money amount. Click on the four dots on the top left of the page. Go to settings and when the different communities or counties come up click on Tuolumne County. Then check the amount again and it should show the correct dollar amount.
