Georgia teen launches student network that redirects restaurant leftovers to shelters
Seventeen-year-old Jiya Patel of Columbus, Georgia co-founded Thrive2Gethr, a student-run program that has mobilized about 1,200 volunteers across 40 chapters to donate over $100,000 worth of food to shelters.
Jiya Patel, a rising senior in Columbus, Georgia, launched Thrive2Gethr after a 2023 visit to India highlighted the link between food waste and hunger. Starting with personal outreach to local eateries, she faced many refusals but kept following up, eventually establishing a model that other students could replicate. Today, roughly 1,200 members in 40 student-led chapters have facilitated food donations valued at more than $100,000 to shelters and food banks.
Patel now mentors chapter leaders, provides guidance on partnership building, and supplies information on the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act to reduce donor liability concerns. She spends about 30 hours each month on the effort and aims to balance expansion with support for existing chapters. Patel plans to study business or economics in college while leaving a scalable framework for future youth volunteers.
Why it matters
It shows how a teenager can turn personal experience into a scalable solution for food waste and hunger.
In this story
