What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

It was a hot summer day, a jumbo-sized presentation check in my outstretched arms, the normal-sized counterpart resting in my pocket. I, a restaurant lover fueled by take-out burritos and quarantine boredom, had raised $2,000 to distribute to local restaurants impacted by Covid-19 shutdowns. As I nervously opened the door to Cantaritos Restaurant, the employees' celebrations began, jumping for joy, hugging each other, and even offering me free food (which I was incapable of turning down). The impact I saw overwhelmed me. I knew I had to keep going. Communicating with restaurant owners, I developed a long-term vision. Project LunchRoom would buy meals from restaurants providing a sustainable source of revenue, then distribute those hot meals to the homeless population making a dual impact on my community with a single set of funds. With no prior fundraising experience, raising money was initially tough, especially during a pandemic. Eventually, my big break came when I applied for a $5,000 grant from a local realtor foundation. I tirelessly practiced my presentation pitch, built relationships within the foundation, and perfected the application. My hard work paid off; we received this grant and jump-started the initiative. In the coming months, I continued expanding Project Lunchroom. I cultivated partnerships with various non-profits and The City of Fremont for access to local homeless shelters, fostered relationships with local restaurants, and coordinated a network of adult volunteers to enable meal delivery. In addition, I created budgets and cash flow plans to efficiently manage funds and marketed my idea through radio interviews and print media to raise donations from individuals along with reputed corporations such as Safeway, Republic Services, and Western Digital. In two years, Project LunchRoom expanded from an idea to an organization that, to date, has raised over $40,000 (with another $20,000 pending), served over 10,000 meals, and supported 20 restaurants. This experience of starting, growing, and running Project LunchRoom has given me the conviction to act on my ideas, igniting a passion I could never have foreseen entering Cantaritos Restaurant three years ago - a passion for Social Entrepreneurship.