Around three years ago, I went to volunteer at Feeding South Florida as a part of a community service project I was doing for a class. For the project, I had to choose an ongoing problem, research it, and find different ways to help my community and reduce the problem. The problem I decided on was hunger because I noticed that many of the people in my community could not afford to eat proper meals, and decided it was the issue I wanted to learn more about. Many government-funded programs allow numerous people to receive food without cost, but many don't know about them. As a part of my project, I looked for different organizations that helped tackle this issue to volunteer and collect more information on the topic. Feeding South Florida was one of many organizations that help reduce food waste and provide meals for the less fortunate, and I decided that would be the best place to start. When I first got there, the staff displayed a presentation including statistics showing the amount of food wasted each day and how many people in South Florida starve each day. The numbers were staggering. I thought it was frustrating how often people passively mention hunger but never attempt to learn more about it. There aren't many food drives in my area, and I thought that by helping at Feeding South Florida, I would be making a small step toward spreading awareness and motivation for serving the hungry in my community. When the presentation was over, we all got to work. I saw people from different companies and many individuals helping each other, sorting through the food and placing them into their respective bins. All the food volunteers sorted through had been "thrown away" by grocery stores in South Florida. There was so much untouched food that would have just gone to waste if it weren't for organizations like Feeding South Florida that take their time to sort through it all and make sure it gets to those in need, rather than added to landfills. Working with the people in my group made me realize most of the volunteers had never been there before. No one knew what they were doing but caught on rather quickly and worked together in harmony. I also noticed that everyone was surprised to see so much food almost being wasted. Sitting in the beginning with the statistics made us all realize that no one is aware of these numbers. Those numbers should have never gotten that high, but it felt good knowing that we were making a difference in those statistics. At the end, the staff showed us the weight of the food we saved, and how many people could eat with that food. Everyone was so proud, and we all went home after one day of volunteering, knowing that we had changed those numbers, even a little. That was the point where my perspective on my community's hungry population changed entirely. I went home and I thought about my community and how the people around me were living in opposite worlds— some stores were able to throw entirely good food items away, and other individuals were not able to afford a meal— and wallowed in anger and pity for my community. Since then, I have worked to spread awareness, taking part in volunteering and food drives, as well as getting those around me involved. Although it was a small change, I was delighted to have taken action in my community and to have been able to share my passion for reducing our hungry population.

Around three years ago, I volunteered at Feeding South Florida as a part of a community service project for a class. For the project, I had to choose an ongoing problem, research it, and find different ways to help my community and reduce the problem if possible. The problem I decided on was hunger because I noticed that many of the people in my community could not afford to eat proper meals, and decided it was the issue I wanted to learn more about. Many government-funded programs allow numerous people to receive food without cost, but many don't know about them. As a part of my project, I looked for different organizations that helped tackle this issue to volunteer and collect more information on the topic. Feeding South Florida was one of many organizations that help reduce food waste and provide meals for the less fortunate, and I decided that would be the best place to start. When I first got there, the staff displayed a presentation. The presentation included statistics showing the amount of food wasted each day and how many people in South Florida starve each day. The numbers were staggering. I thought it was crazy how often people passively mention world hunger but never actually attempt to learn more about it. When the presentation was over, we all got to work. I saw people from different companies and many individuals helping each other, sorting through the food and placing them into their respective bins. All the food volunteers sorted through had been "thrown away" by grocery stores in South Florida. There was so much untouched food that would have just gone to waste if it weren't for organizations like Feeding South Florida that take their time to sort through it all and make sure it gets to those in need, rather than added to landfills. Working with the people in my group made me realize several things: The first was that most of the volunteers had never been there before. No one knew what they were doing at first but caught on rather quickly and worked together in harmony. I also noticed that everyone was surprised to see so much food almost being wasted. Sitting in the beginning with the statistics made us all realize that no one is aware of these numbers. We shouldn't have been so shocked, and the numbers should have never gotten that high, but it felt good knowing that we were making a difference in those statistics. At the end, the staff showed us the weight of the food we saved, and how many people could eat with that food. Everyone was so proud, and we all went home after one day of volunteering, knowing that we had changed those numbers, even a little. That was the point where my perspective on my community's hungry population changed entirely. I went back home and wrote my essay on world hunger, more informed and more determined to make a difference. I thought about my community and how the people around me were living in opposite worlds— some stores were able to throw entirely good food items away, and other individuals were not able to afford enough for a meal— and wallowed in both anger and pity. Since then, I have worked to spread awareness, taking part in volunteering and food drives, as well as getting those around me involved. Although it was a small change, I was happy to have taken action in my community and to have been able to share my passion for reducing the hungry population of South Florida.

I think it's really important for people to see the importance of natural foods and how much they can impact their health and the environment. My parents come from rural villages in Albania, and they always knew a lot about farming and gardening. When they moved to America, they brought their green thumbs with them and started planting fruits and vegetables in our backyard. There's something special about eating the food you've grown and the satisfaction of hard work when it's put in front of you. Buying locally grown foods helps the environment because we know that they didn't use factories and they didn't process their foods. Most farmers who plant their own crops grow them in an environmentally friendly way. They tend to use fewer pesticides and have healthier crops because they can take better care of smaller patches of land, rather than large commercial-grade fields. Not only is it better for the environment, but by buying from local farmers, you are supporting the farmers directly. A couple of years ago, I volunteered at Feeding South Florida, and they gave us different statistics on how much food is thrown away and wasted each year, and how much food is saved just by going through and sorting it. After seeing how many tons of food can be saved, I thought about how often it is that people just throw things away, and don't even think about donating to a local food bank. When people think of food, they usually simply think of just going to a grocery store and grabbing something off the shelves, but food is a lot more than that. Food is often made up of many different kinds of ingredients, and it is most likely being packaged in materials that are non-recyclable. I've learned that by buying from sources like local farmers' markets, you are reducing the amount of pollution you produce because most goods bought are unpackaged, you are supporting local growers, and you eat seasonal items. I try to contribute by telling others about where they can buy more sustainable foods and help support local farmers. I do my best to research where I can get the healthiest foods made without (or with the least amount of) pesticides and fertilizers, and making sure I always buy organic- whether it's fruits or vegetables, or even meats. We recently planted some more fruits and vegetables in the garden, and I always encourage people to do the same if they have some time and space. Even if you don't completely change your lifestyle, it's good to know the importance of natural foods and keeping the environment.

I am interested in entrepreneurship because of how it is currently helping me provide for my family. My mother (who is a stay-at-home mom) and I have tried different things to help make some money on the side. We recently tried reselling, which has been working pretty well. I think I can contribute to the betterment of society by re-introducing these ways of buying and selling things to people. A lot of people aren't aware of these online platforms, and I think it's really important because they can save people a lot of money, while also helping to support others. The reason we started this in the first place was to make some extra money because I have a large family, and the only provider was my father. He is currently unemployed, so we had to take matters into our own hands and do what we could to help support ourselves. The way we found out about this is when my mother had gone to a store, and this lady started talking to her, and she was the one who introduced the idea of reselling. She explained to my mother that there are several platforms where people can buy and sell things, and this was her major form of income. After coming home that day, my mother explained to me what this woman had told her. Out of curiosity (at the time) we decided to try downloading a few apps and see where it would take us. After looking through a few of them, we found a few that we thought would work for us, and that's how it all began. Of course, it's still a lot of work, and it still takes a lot of time and effort, but for us, it was the only thing we could do, and the only thing that would be able to help us. I became interested when I heard about how there are so many people on these buying and selling platforms, but there were still plenty of people (like us) that had never even heard about them. There are so many people like us out there that would definitely benefit from something like this. I think it's important to spread the word that there are other words to make money and put yourself out there, rather than actually having to make huge sacrifices for something that you might not have full faith in. If I can help individuals like my mom and I realize that there are things we can do to pick ourselves back up, I wouldn't hesitate to support them. Even if it's something like a small business or even a temporary side job, everything makes a difference, and that's what I want to convey to people. Thank you