We all know how food is wasted and we also know that there is hunger all over. You might try to help by donating time, money, or food to a food kitchen but it’s not putting a dent in the bellies that are hungering for food. When you think about restaurants, banquet halls, food trucks, and other places, you can only imagine how much food is thrown away. 

This past Spring, the Un-carrier (T-Mobile) launched the Changemaker Challenge – a nationwide search focused on finding and supporting trailblazing teens and young adults with big ideas around how to create positive long-lasting change in their communities. After months of collecting and reviewing more than 330 unique and creative entries, T-Mobile revealed the top 30 winning teams who now get to visit T-Mobile HQ in Seattle, for a VIP, all expenses paid experience as part of the first ever, T-Mobile Changemaker Lab. 

Each team participated in a two-day immersive Changemaker Challenge Lab at T-Mobile’s Headquarters in Seattle on August 19 through 21. They received in-depth mentorship and skills training with T-Mobile senior leadership, and collaborated with their fellow Changemakers. Their ultimate goal was to turn their revolutionary ideas into reality! All 30 winning teams went to T-Mobile Bellevue, for a VIP, all expenses paid lab and mentoring experience as part of the first ever T-Mobile Changemaker Challenge. They also received a new device and a portion of $58,000 in seed funding from the T-Mobile Foundation.

Each team formally pitched their big idea to a panel of T-Mobile senior executives to receive real-time feedback on their plans and advice on how to put them into action. T-Mobile spear-headed the change of wireless and the Un-carrier is now helping youths to help change the world for the better by giving them the tools they need. Judges from T-Mobile and Ashoka partnered and reviewed submissions from youth teams (between the ages of 13 and 23) from across the country. Project ideas ranged from building libraries in underdeveloped countries to distributing excess food to hungry people to facilitating conversations between youth and local law enforcement. Winning teams have been selected based on the following criteria:

• Changemaker Quality – already taking steps to make a difference
• Creativity – fresh, innovative ideas that challenge the norm
• Commitment – devoted to seeing their project through, and to make a lasting impact
• Connection – ability and openness to work with others in their communities

 T-Mobile announced the top six Changemaker Challenge teams chosen for their innovative and inspiring changemaker qualities.The Top 6 teams will each get $5,000 in seed funds – plus they will get the opportunity to present their idea to a panel of T-Mobile senior executives for feedback, encouragement and advice. Instead of two CEO Picks, John Legere decided all six top teams were top winners. In addition, Legere announced that he would be making a personal donation of $30,000 to the Top 6 Changemaker Challenge teams – an additional $5,000 per team on top of the $5,000 they have each already received from the T-Mobile Foundation. You can Congratulate and check out the winners;  ArtPass, Aware, Dios del Sol, Echo Effect, Peerlift, and The Yellow Tulip Project! 

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/changemaker-challenge-winners

The Changemaker who touched my heart

Kiran Sridhar, with support of teachers, mentors, and family wanted to make a difference to  Waste No Food, although this project was not one of the six winners, this project should not be forgotten.

One-in-six people in America are food insecure; this is a societal problem of untapped potential. It is also completely preventable. After all, 40% of all food is wasted. If food waste could be reduced by just 3/10s, every hungry person could be fed. The problem is one of logistics: it is hard for venues which hold large events (and constitute a large fraction of food waste) to link up with resource-deprived charities. Waste No Food is that link. ~Kiran”

 

Waste No food uses technology to provide an efficient platform that can be used nationwide. It’s a program that has been directly tailored to meet the needs of both food donors and charities. Their food donors include restaurants, corporate and educational cafeterias, caterers, food trucks, grocery stores, farms and sporting venues. They created web and mobile marketplaces that efficiently links food donors and pre-vetted charities. Any time a food donor has excess food, all that they need to do is type a message on Waste No Food’s platform. This allows a way to reach out to all charities within 20 miles of the donation site in the vicinity in under a minute. If they can use the excess food, they can then claim the food and are responsible for picking the food up. This app matches food donors and charities in real-time and all donations are tracked.

So far “Waste No Food” has donated 5 million meals to the hungry!

Many people donate food personally, especially around the holidays but what if every restaurant, farm, banquet facility, food truck, bakery, etc was able to get their food in the hands of the hungry. I’m excited to watch Waste No Food grow and become national so all bellies will be full!

How do you give back to your community?