One of Instagram's cofounders has launched a site to help people buy gift cards to support restaurants during the coronavirus shutdown

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Instagram cofounder Mike Krieger.

• Instagram cofounder Mike Krieger has come up with a way to help San Francisco's restaurants stay afloat through the city's 'shelter in place' period.
• Krieger and his wife built a directory of San Francisco restaurants and cafes with links allowing city residents to buy gift cards, allowing these businesses to continue to get enough income to pay rent and take care of fixed costs.
• "It's a seemingly small gesture, but it means that the business gets income today to stay afloat through the crisis," Krieger wrote in a Medium post.
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San Francisco's sweeping directive instructing local residents to "shelter in place" is threatening the future of many of the city's restaurants and cafes.

And when one Pacific Heights neighborhood restaurant was forced to close shop last weekend, one of Instagram's cofounders, Mike Krieger, sprung into action and built a directory of restaurants offering gift cards in order for San Franciscans to support their city's most beloved eating spots.

In a blog post, Krieger urged local residents to consider buying gift cards for their most cherished eating spots. Gift cards would go a long way to helping support the 12,000+ small businesses that may be forced to permanently close as a consequence of measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak, he said.

"It's a seemingly small gesture, but it means that the business gets income today to stay afloat through the crisis. You'll get repaid in burgers/lattes/negronis (and gratitude) when they're back on their feet," Krieger wrote.

And Krieger is hoping that the directory he built, dubbed SaveOurFaves, will help make the process easier for San Franciscans - and help save the city's restaurants.

"We hope SaveOurFaves will help "flatten the curve" of lost income for restaurants - giving them the resources to make ends meet and preserve the livelihood of wage earners during this difficult time," he wrote.

This weekend, my wife @kaitlyntrigger and I built https://t.co/PmD4dXOpJ4, so you can discover cherished SF restaurants & cafes offering gift cards. Let us know what you think, and please consider supporting your local favorites through gift cards through these challenging times.

- Mike Krieger (@mikeyk) March 17, 2020

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