Anonymous wrote:We sent a large anonymous gift to family friends once (health issue, job loss, small kids). We had our bank send a certified (cashiers? - not sure of the difference) check to their house by FedEx which they had to sign for so that I knew they received it. Our bank was HQ'd out of state so there was no good way to figure out where it was from). They enabled us to enclose a note (they printed and included) about passing it forward once they were back on their feet.

That is a great avenue to explore -- thank you!

-OP

I hope he is also eligible for unemployment and for the $600 coming from federal government.
I did not file for unemployment for the first 2 weeks since boss said he would rehire us all in 2 weeks, but there went that.
I filed for DC unemployment when it was clear that restaurants won't open any time soon. When they do, there will be a lot more workers than restaurants.
There is also "virtual tip jar" for restaurant workers going around. You could see the person's name and venmo account. Not all workers are there- only one from our restaurant.
I hope my co-workers pull through. Not all are eligible for unemployment.

We sent a large anonymous gift to family friends once (health issue, job loss, small kids). We had our bank send a certified (cashiers? - not sure of the difference) check to their house by FedEx which they had to sign for so that I knew they received it. Our bank was HQ'd out of state so there was no good way to figure out where it was from). They enabled us to enclose a note (they printed and included) about passing it forward once they were back on their feet.

OP back again, and I'm trying to close the gap and make a sizeable donation for this family, but I really want it to be anonymous. From the research I've done, there isn't a way to make a truly anonymous donation on GoFundMe as the names are always visible to the organizer. Using a name other than what is on your credit card is risky because the transaction may not go through.

I am going to look into a prepaid VISA gift card... curious if anyone has any other suggestions?

OP back again, and the family has created a GoFundMe account. I'm posting it here in case anyone feels like chipping in. They are GOOD and hard-working people who I have seen help others many times.

No pressure, obviously. Just trying to help out.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/hopkinsvelarde-family

OP here. Thanks for all the tips. I have the person's email address, but no other current contact information. So, any method that allows money to be sent anonymously using the recipient's email address would work.

To the person who suggested the Venmo chat, thanks! I'll give that a try tomorrow.

Does Venmo still IMMEDIATELY spam your new venmo account name to everyone in your contact list (or vice versa if they have your # in theirs?). I recall it did that to me when I was first creating account and there was no way to opt out.

Does Venmo still IMMEDIATELY spam your new venmo account name to everyone in your contact list (or vice versa if they have your # in theirs?). I recall it did that to me when I first creating your account and there was no way to opt out.