Founded Waste No Food.
WASHINGTON, DC: An Indian American teenager from California, Kiran Sridhar, 16, is one of the 25 recipients of The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, for 2014.
Each year, the Barron Prize honors 25 outstanding young leaders across America ages eight to 18 who have made a significant positive difference to people and/or to the environment, according to a release.
The top 10 winners each receive a $5,000 cash award to support their service work or higher education – Sridhar is one of them.
According to the organization, Sridhar, a high school senior, created Waste No Food (www.wastenofood.org), a free, web-based service that efficiently links food donors with charities that feed the hungry.
In four years, his group has redistributed food to serve over 100,000 meals. He began his work after volunteering at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, which serves three meals daily to anyone in need. Researching the hunger problem, he learned that it’s largely one of food distribution and that one third of all food in California is wasted.
Sridhar also began to better understand the science of wasted food and its effect on our landfills and methane emissions. He resolved to help others see the food waste problem as both a humanitarian and an environmental one.
Sridhar conceived of a simple system that would make use of technology and allow donors to post available food to pre-approved charities who in turn, would claim it and pick it up. He has rallied 140 students at his high school to help sign-up food donors and make the system a rousing success, with others schools and community colleges eager to start their own chapters. For the past year, he has been developing a mobile app for cell phones set to launch soon that will allow even easier and more efficient use of Waste No Food. “I’ve learned that it’s possible to make a difference in the world if one is committed,” says Kiran. According to the Waste No food site, Sridhar is the founder, executive director, president and secretary.
According to the Waste No food site, Sridhar is the founder, executive director, president and secretary.