Co-founder Nick Murphy (center) assists in an early recovery.
In anticipation of our one millionth pound of food recovered, we asked our original founders one simple question:
What does one million mean to you?
Lauren Behgam
"An incredible number of students taking action to build more sustainable and just communities."
Andrew Bresee
"1 million pounds means that FRN has really made a big impact on changing the culture surrounding food waste and hunger. Seeing the growth of 0 - million pounds and 1 - 150+ Chapters has been a really exciting indication of this cultural shift.
However, with over a billion pounds of food being thrown away every year, these numbers also indicate that there is a lot more work to be done. I can not wait to see how FRN will continue to grow, impact the US culture, and reach a billion pounds of food recovered!"
Ben Chesler
"One million pounds of food means we are well on our way to making a major dent in solving the food waste problem on college campuses, and in our country generally. When we started FRN back in 2011, we had only a dream of what FRN would become and it's amazing to see how big it's grown. Here's to many millions more pounds!"
Becca Kagan
"It's hard to even comprehend what 1 million pounds means. It was crazy to be part of creating something that grew like that. I've never seen or heard of an idea take off like that before. I think it speaks to just how powerful the idea is, and how simple, and how needed. I still remember the first time I heard about the concept of what would become FRN from Ben Chesler - he just said a single sentence, and I was sold. I told him immediately that I wanted to be involved. I think we could all see that there was so much power in this idea.
It also always re-inspires me that there are hundreds of students around the country that decided to start up chapters of FRN and thousands that decided to volunteer at their school. It really goes to show that so many people want to make a difference, they just don't know how. They're waiting for the right idea to come along."
Nick Murphy
“I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the other FRN co-founders and proud to see our small experiment at four colleges grow to over 150 chapters that have cumulatively redirected one million pounds of food from rotting in landfills to nourishing people’s bodies. Living proof of Margaret Mead's quote: 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has’
Cam Pascual
"I remember being a freshman and feeling so small and disheartened about these huge, seemingly insurmountable global issues like hunger and climate change. I have no words to describe how inspiring it is, five years later, to see thousands of FRN students attacking these issues in a meaningful, powerful way. 1,000,000 pounds matter. 800,000 meals matter. Together, we're actually making a difference."
Ben Simon
"Founding FRN with such amazing people has been the highlight of my life so far. The most inspiring part for me has been seeing the thousands of college students rallying around this, starting chapters, going on epic recoveries and committing to be lifelong leaders for social good."
Mia Zavalij
"When I first started working on FRN with my fellow co-founders, I had no idea that we would grow so quickly or that others would become so invested in the cause. We've been able to donate 1 million pounds in 4 years because we have thousands of student volunteers who care that good food is going to waste on their campus dining halls. They care that there are people in need in their communities. And they want to do something about it."
Their statements speak volumes about how far FRN has come in the past four years. A huge thanks to the work that all of our co-founders did and continue to do. Here's to the next million!