We're Giving Away $30 Million in Free Food
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00 And what is frightening is that more than one third of it goes to waste.
00:04 This means that 150 billion potential meals are being thrown into landfill,
00:08 while 44 million Americans live with limited access to food.
00:11 And what's puzzling is that it's taken this long for someone to find a solution to this problem.
00:16 Meet Evan, a college kid from Philadelphia.
00:19 I originally started just as a student with leftover meal swipes in my dining account.
00:23 And I've realized as I was getting close to the end of the term,
00:26 I have 50 meals left that I know I'm not going to be able to use.
00:29 And I just had a pit in my stomach thinking about all of those meals going to waste.
00:33 I decided to swipe out all those meals and put them in the back of my car.
00:36 An entire car filled with leftover meal swipes.
00:40 This is all going to go to feed homeless people today all throughout Philadelphia.
00:44 This may be the only meal that they have that day.
00:46 It took me a couple of years to kind of build up this momentum.
00:50 Everyone became a part of it.
00:51 I kind of had that first inkling of this could be something that a lot of other people want to join onto as well.
00:56 This was the start of Evan's organization, Sharing Excess,
00:59 whose mission is to rescue and collect food that would otherwise go to waste
01:03 and redistribute it for free to people in need all around Philadelphia.
01:07 Behind me is our first warehouse.
01:10 It used to be a boxing gym and we turned it into this makeshift distribution facility
01:15 where we learned how to move larger amounts of food.
01:18 This is really where it all began.
01:20 But the cost of maintaining this operation became extremely expensive
01:25 and nearly impossible for Evan and his small team to sustain alone.
01:28 There's no money in this.
01:29 I have to figure out a way to pay rent, put food on the table for myself,
01:33 even if my dream is to put food on the tables of everyone else.
01:37 All of this work just goes for nothing.
01:40 I have to start all over again.
01:42 That's where we reached out to Beast Philanthropy and we pitched this wild idea.
01:47 Hey, we want to break the record for the world's largest food distribution with Beast Philanthropy.
01:52 So I flew Darren to Philadelphia to check out the current state of their operation
01:56 where he joined Evan for one of their local weekend distributions.
01:59 This is Malcolm X Park.
02:01 We've been distributing here every Saturday for the last three years.
02:04 It's become a regular routine for hundreds of families to come out here
02:07 and get the groceries that they need every weekend.
02:09 After witnessing everything that Evan had done to help this community,
02:13 it didn't take but an hour to know that we had committed to partnering with Sharing XS
02:17 to help them achieve their goal of feeding as many people as possible.
02:21 Together, we are going to be able to establish an operation
02:24 that is going to provide tens of millions of meals to food insecure people around America.
02:29 So Evan gave Darren a tour of their existing warehouse at
02:32 the largest produce market in the mid-Atlantic region.
02:35 We have 18 of the largest produce vendors in this 700,000 square foot warehouse.
02:40 We started to grow into a real company and now we have over 30 employees
02:44 and we're rescuing food in 19 different states.
02:48 Most of the food that we receive, none of it has to go to waste in a landfill
02:51 and we've created a sorting operation downstairs
02:54 where we're able to go through each and every one of those boxes,
02:57 pick out the one or two bad tomatoes that we see in a box
03:00 and get the rest of the great food that's still edible out to communities that same day.
03:04 Since starting their operations at this distribution center,
03:07 Sharing XS have just rescued over 14 million pounds of food at this facility alone
03:12 and redistributed it to communities in neighboring states.
03:16 However, Evan had his sights set on a much bigger goal,
03:20 so we took on our biggest feat yet, helping Sharing XS acquire
03:24 Hunts Point Produce Market, the largest produce market in the world in New York City
03:29 and that operation is going to be three times larger than the one that we have in Philly.
03:33 So Darren and Evan traveled to New York to officially open their distribution at Hunts Point.
03:39 When I first walked through the doors and I saw just the sheer magnitude of this place,
03:45 I literally felt like an ant.
03:47 It's so cool to finally be in a place that has enough food for us to actually make a huge dent in the problem.
03:53 After a year of planning and preparation, it was finally time to open the recovery center at Hunts Point.
03:59 Alright Darren, it's taken us a long time but we're finally here.
04:02 Let's do this.
04:03 Let's go.
04:06 [Cheering]
04:08 After cutting the ribbon with Evan today, I realized just how impactful this program is about to be.
04:18 This is just the very beginning of something exceptional.
04:22 It's taken so much time to get here and to just know that this team put everything together to make it possible
04:29 and to now see it come true, I can't even express the feeling.
04:32 With Hunts Point officially secured, it was time for SharingXcess to do their biggest distribution yet
04:38 and the first one they had ever done in New York City.
04:40 So while they load up the trucks, I want to tell you about the sponsor of this video, iBotta.
04:45 iBotta is a mobile app that gives you real cash back on the food that you purchase.
04:49 They're helping provide equitable access to food for communities in need.
04:53 And they're taking it one step further.
04:55 They want to give your family a free meal this Thanksgiving too.
04:58 Download the iBotta app to get 100% cash back on your turkey and all the essential sides for your holiday dinner.
05:03 Plus, earn cash back everywhere you shop with the iBotta app, website, and browser extension.
05:07 The average saver earns up to $120 per year.
05:11 It is because of people like them that we are able to help the organizations like SharingXcess
05:14 that change the millions of lives of people all around the world.
05:17 I also want to give a massive shout out to Robin Hood Charities.
05:20 I actually flew to New York and asked them to help us expand SharingXcess into New York
05:24 and they really stepped up to the plate, so thank you.
05:26 Thank you so much iBotta and Robin Hood for your support.
05:29 Now let's go give away this food.
05:30 This is the Anne Hutchinson School.
05:32 This is an elementary school in the Bronx and this is our first time ever distributing in New York City.
05:37 We're so excited to finally be able to feed New Yorkers with the operation that we have
05:41 that we started at Hunts Point and now we can get that fresh produce out to communities like you see here.
05:46 When we first started Beast Philanthropy just two and a half years ago,
05:49 our goal was to feed 400,000 meals in the first year.
05:52 Now we'll be doing just over 2 million meals a month and this is just the beginning.
05:56 So many people came out, literally hundreds of people from all across the community
06:00 and that's what we love to see.
06:02 We love to see people coming together over the shared value of food.
06:05 Just to see the look on the kids' faces when they got those meals, man, it just, it warmed my heart.
06:12 You love free food? Let me hear you say yeah!
06:18 Yeah!
06:22 Honestly, I didn't expect this for my life, but it's become my entire life's purpose.
06:27 When I started SharingXS, I didn't know what I was doing.
06:31 I just knew that this was something that felt good and it felt good to do something good for other people.
06:37 So far, we've rescued over 30 million pounds of food, but really our journey has just begun.
06:42 Working with organizations like Beast Philanthropy, we hope to bring this impact to countries all over the world
06:48 and make sharing excess a common practice for humanity everywhere.
06:52 If I could start something, anyone could start something.
06:55 In the time it has taken you to watch this video,
06:59 280 pounds of food has already been rescued by Beast Philanthropy and SharingXS.
07:04 It is because of that, we are able to continue to support organizations like SharingXS
07:08 that make a difference all around the world.
07:10 And I just want you to know that I'm incredibly grateful for all of you.
07:13 Also, if you don't subscribe, I will blow up your phone.
07:16 So, do it right now.
07:19 [Music]