Exasperated and frustrated by the sights of homelessness, a California woman created an application that has helped feed almost 600,000 homeless.
California Woman Creates App Helping To Feed Almost 600,000 Homeless
When she was a student at the University of California, Berkeley, Komal Ahmad- now aged 25 – was walking near campus when a homeless man approached her and asked for money to buy food three years ago. Instead of handing over any money, she decided to take him to lunch, and this is when she learned about his plight as a returned soldier from Iraq.
After that experience, which, she says, “blew my mind,” Ms Ahmad began an initiative at UC Berkeley that allowed the dining hall to donate any excess food to local homeless shelters.
The program became such a success that it expanded to roughly 140 other colleges and universities across America in just three years.
Today, the CEO of the not-for-profit movement, Feeding Forward, calls food waste “the world’s dumbest problem.”
She adds: “Hunger is bad – it’s terrible everywhere – but in America, in the most prosperous, industrialized country in the world, this just shouldn’t exist.”
Putting the issue into perspective: “Imagine a football stadium filled to its brim. That’s how much food goes wasted every single day in America.” In addition, she notes how the country doesn’t have a shortage of food; It’s just distributed in an inequitable manner.
So, how does the Feeding Forward app work? With just a click on your computer, event planners and companies can donate their surplus food to those in need within their area. Subsequently, Feeding Forward drivers locate the excess food and/or the leftovers, taking it to areas in need of resources.
California Woman Creates App Helping To Feed Almost 600,000 Homeless
The app is currently being revamped but will soon return in Aug. You can visit at www.FeedingForward.com.
I know TATWZA would concur that this should be proliferated across the county.
SOURCE: THE INDEPENDENT
