The creator of Flikshop learned about the tremendous need and got a brilliant idea from very personal experience. Marcus Bullock was once a prisoner himself. While behind bars, his mother sent him a picture and a note every day. Realizing the encouragement the daily notes gave him - once he was freed - Marcus created the Flikshop app. “It essentially allows you to upload pictures and messages to your loved ones in just a few clicks,” says Heather Rice-Minus, Vice President of Government Affairs & Church Mobilization at Prison Fellowship. She explains that hundreds of families were blessed by the availability of the partnership technology on Father’s Day, which is a very important time for a dad who is imprisoned.
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But the Flikshop advantage is not just for one holiday. The photo/message app can be used for birthdays, Christmas, and more. The app creates a post card that is sent directly to the place the family’s loved one is incarcerated.
The program has become especially important due to lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, where families have not been allowed to make in-person visits to prisons. Quoting Marcus Bullock, Heather Rice-Minus says, “There’s no more lonelier time than mail call in prison” for those who do not receive any mail from friends or family. The Flikshop app can prevent that gnawing loneliness from happening.
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“My husband has been in prison for 23 months. Our new son is now 17 months old and never once actually met or even gotten to see his father through a video visit because issues with the department of corrections system! Thanks to your free three Flikshop credits, my husband will actually be able to feel like the great daddy I know he will be once he gets out. Our son gets to have fun taking pics to send to his daddy that he has never met! Thank you guys. I think it will really be a blessing to my husband—maybe even make him cry a little! So from the bottom of our hearts, thank you and God bless you!!! We love the postcards.” –Chyanna and Family
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“My mom would take pictures of a cheeseburger or a mattress at a department store and she would send them to me along with a letter with a promise that one day I would enjoy a fat juicy burger or sleep on a comfortable bed. My mom assured me that there was life after prison.” Marcus Bullock credits the messages and photos from his mother for literally saving his life. The mom’s love eventually became the motivation for the Flikshop app.
Here’s the backstory from Marcus Bullock about the worst decision he ever made, and how his life turned around:
