Virtual food turns into real food for hungry people, courtesy of food bank app

By Jaime Lutz, Globe Correspondent

Imagine drawing a picture of an apple and having the apple materialize on someone’s plate. Technology hasn’t quite reached that point -- but with a new Web application from the Greater Boston Food Bank, it comes close.

The application, “Give A Doodle,” will be launched next month. With the program, anyone with access to an iPhone, Android or a tablet computer like the iPad can scribble a picture of food with their fingertip and submit it to the GBFB website. For every drawing that’s submitted, corporate sponsors of the Food Bank have agreed to donate a real-life meal to one of the 550 food pantries, shelters, meal programs, and day care centers under the GBFB umbrella.

“Give a Doodle will allow anyone with access to these popular technologies to join the Greater Boston Food Bank in our efforts to end hunger here in the Commonwealth,” said GBFB president and CEO Catherine D’Amato.

And no, the drawings don’t have to be of a full meal -- a balanced meal will be donated, no matter what is drawn, said Sandra Goldfarb, a GBFB spokeswoman. In fact, if the drawing is shared on Facebook, Twitter, or a photo gallery on GBFB.org, an additional meal will be donated by the sponsor. There’s no limit to the number of doodles a single person can draw.

What’s in it for the GBFB? They hope to raise greater awareness of the food bank’s services and give users a chance to get involved more directly, Goldfarb said. For instance, doodlers will also be able to make $10 donations through text messages sent from the app.

GBFB will preview the web application Saturday at Booth 44 at the Boston Book Festival. At the kickoff event, trial doodlers will be asked to draw turkeys to kick off the organization’s Fall 2011 Turkey Drive. There are no downloads required - all users will simply have to point their browsers to giveadoodle.org to access the app.