A new Community Grant program will make Lyft more than just a convenient way to get around town, head to a favorite restaurant, or to get to a concert quickly. Thanks the grant program, the ridesharing company will serve Dallas area nonprofits in a new way — free rides for a month via a $1,000 ride credit.

The Lyft grant program will serve 20 different cities every month, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The first DFW nonprofit to receive a grant from Lyft is Café Momentum, which works to help at-risk youth who have previously been in juvenile justice system to learn life skills and get culinary training in a positive environment.

“Café Momentum does outstanding work in Dallas to help at-risk youth realize their full potential through mentorship and support.”
Yohan Bobcombe

“Café Momentum does outstanding work in Dallas to help at-risk youth realize their full potential through mentorship and support,” Lyft Dallas-Fort Worth Market Manager Yohan Bobcombe said in a release. “We look forward to seeing how this grant will propel the program even further.”

Lyft said the purpose of the new grant program is to assist nonprofit organizations nationwide so they can continue making an impact in their communities.

Elsewhere, recipients include Atlanta’s Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence, San Diego’s Think Dignity, and New Jersey’s The Beauty Foundation for Cancer Care.

For Café Momentum, this means helping program participants get to the restaurant easily and safely so they can continue to learn and grow.

“The Lyft Community Grant will help ease transportation issues for many of our program participants, and we are grateful to Lyft for their recognition and support,” Café Momentum Chief Development Officer Margaret Windham said in the release.

LYFT SEES DALLAS AS NATURAL FIT FOR ITS GRANTS

This isn’t the first announcement the ridesharing company has made aimed at positively impacting the Dallas community. Earlier this month, Lyft launched Sober Rides TX, a pilot program that pledged to commit $50,000 in sober rides across the state.

“We know DFW is home to many tremendous organizations that do important work for the community here, so it was a natural fit to offer these grants in Dallas,” Bobcombe told Dallas Innovates via email.

Last year, the company released a report for that showed the economic impact of Lyft users on the city of Dallas. The report said that 46 percent of Lyft passengers spend more at local businesses — roughly $47 million in Dallas area businesses alone.

Organizations that are interested in applying for a grant can go to Lyft’s Community Grant website to learn more information.

“There is clearly a lot of good being done by many organizations in Dallas-Fort Worth and we hope to support many with this program in time,” Bobcombe said.