2025 Teens Dream - Elimination of Food Waste & Food Insecurity

My dream is to eliminate food waste by providing a way for food to get where it isn’t wanted to where it is. It started when I saw a flyer in a library asking for food for a shelter. Until then, I actually had no idea the shelter even existed even though it is right next door to a library that I’d visited over a hundred times.

I began small by baking treats, but within a month the shelter sent a notice that it was implementing a no-turn away policy. That meant that everyone who visited the shelter would be fed, but the portions would be decreased during higher demand periods. That’s when I increased my efforts. I solicited the help of hundreds of teens in my county to provide to-go meals for the shelter. There is a continuous need for these meals. Remembering that I had no idea this shelter even existed, I offer these teens an additional community service hour when they personally drop the food off. I want them to see that there is food insecurity everywhere.

At the same time, I began asking managers at local restaurants if I could retrieve their unsold food and bring it to the shelter. This may sound simple but for every yes I have, I received hundreds of no’s – or worse – no response at all. Most evenings you will find me after hours picking up food and very early the following morning, I am dropping that food off at the shelter. I feel so strongly about getting food to those who need it that when I was 1,500 miles from home moving my sister into her freshman dorm, I even did this work. I stopped by for a bagel 45 minutes before her scheduled move in time and saw a large bag of bagels. When I asked about them, the manager said they were from the day before. I offered to find a place to donate them and she agreed. Twenty minutes later, I had delivered them to a food bank.