A new city-sponsored e-gift card program called Together for Hayward aims to boost the city’s economy, local officials announced.

The gift cards can be used currently at 36 businesses in Hayward, including salons, restaurants and at least one record shop. The list of businesses is growing, according to city officials.

Cards can be purchased in any denomination. Residents will receive a second gift card, while city funding lasts, when they buy an e-gift card in denominations of $40, $75, and $100. Residents will get a gift card of $10 when buying a $40 card, a gift card of $20 when buying a $75 card and a gift card of $30 when buying a $100 card.

While funds are available, the city is also paying the fee normally charged to residents to buy an e-gift card.

More information about the program, including how to purchase a card or how to participate as a business, can be found on the Together for Hayward website.

Keith Burbank is currently a fulltime reporter covering Alameda County and Oakland news for Bay City News. He has also worked on the Data Points project for Local News Matters, finding trends and stories about the region through data. In 2019, he was a California Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, producing a series about homeless deaths in Santa Clara County. He worked as a swing shift editor for the newswire for several years as well. Outside of journalism, Keith enjoys computer programming, math, economics and music.