Austin Daily Herald

Honoring those who’ve helped: Hormel recognizes young people who have made a difference

August 2024

From recognizing food insecurities to trying to ease global tensions, the youth who were honored as 10 Under 20 Food Heroes by Hormel Foods are a beacon of hope for the future. The winners, who came from all around the nation to Austin, were honored at the Hormel Institute Monday and Natalie Dietz, a 13-year old from Abingdon, Maryland, summed up the youth efforts as good as anyone. Deitz, who overcame food anxiety due to a birth defect, has volunteered at We Cancerve, she has delivered supplemental food kits for 100 youths in her local school system and she created a recipe and filmed a cooking tutorial for a nutritious affordable meal kit for a children’s TV show. “We are capable of so much,” Deitz said. “I’ve been able to single handedly see the effect that kids can have on our community. Adults can help us by providing support.”

Steven Hoffen,a 16-year old from New York City, took his vision overseas as he created an award winning documentary called “Growing Peace in the Middle East” which focuses on how food can bring communities together. Hoffen was inspired to film the documentary after a visit to Israel in 2019. “I think it’s important for people to see an example of Jews and Arabs can connect and create peace,” Hoffen said. “Sindyanna’s hydroponics projects brings Jews and Arabs together, especially women, to solve real world projects that affect everyone.” Hoffen has helped install numerous hydroponic gardens that serve over 33,500 yearly servings of produce to communities in need.

Emma Falkenmyer of Sherrill, New York founded a school club called School Lunch Pals that raised money to pay off over 3,100 student’s lunches. “My initiative was born out of feelings of embarrassment and shame. I was able to go home and eat whatever I wanted, but that was not the experience for most of my classmates,” Falkenmyer said. “That kind of motivated me to start school lunches.” Lauren Schroeder, who is from Dixon, Iowa, saw how hard it was for those in need to get fresh produce during the pandemic, so she took it on herself to grow vegetables on her family farm. She has donated over 7,000 pounds of homegrown produce, valued at over $15,000 to more than 10 nonprofits.

“My mom and I went to a non-profit in Davenport, we saw there was no produce during the pandemic,” Schroeder said. “I started with half an acre, I did one acre in my sophomore year, then I did one and a half acres, and now I’ll be up to two acres for my senior year.”

Colin Chu, a 16-year old from Palo, Alto, California, donates over 7,000 meals monthly through his nonprofit called Homeless Heroes. Chu became active when he noticed how much food was being thrown away at his school.

“I saw how many trays of food were left over after lunch, while just a few miles away from my school there were homeless people who didn’t have enough money to put any food on the table,” Chu said. “I did some research and found out that I lived near some of the top homeless cities in the nation. Through this process, I’ve learned so much.”

Skai Nzueton, who is 18 and from New York worked with his younger brother Will Nzueton, who is 16, to help donate 12,000 food items and more than 10,000 pounds. Will won the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in New York’s 12th District for helping streamline food to rescue operations.

“There is a lot of waste in schools, but in a city like New York, there are restaurants that are required to throw away  their food every so often,” Will said. “We want to take food surpluses and use it to reduce food insecurity.”

Others honored, included Samantha Sandhaus, an 18-year old from Philadelphia, who founded a nonprofit called Feeding Philly that serves over 2,000 families and repurposes more than 2,500 pounds of food; Eliana Johnson, a 10-year old from Broomfield, Colorado, who provides meals for Denver’s refugee population; Bella Eberhart, a 12-year old from Wellington, Florida, led initiatives to sort non-perishable items and glean fresh produce; Aakash Suresh, an 18-year old from Miami Florida, who helped provide over five million meals to families in need and he developed an AI-powered prediction model to predict food insecurity.

2024 class of 10 Under 20 Food Heroes:

Aakash Suresh, 18, Miami, Florida Aakash serves as the vice chair and head of relations for the Junior Advisory Board of Joshua’s Heart Foundation, a Miami-based nonprofit dedicated to ending world hunger, founded by 2020 Food Hero, Joshua Williams. Aakash has been pivotal in organizing food distributions that have provided over 5 million meals to families in need. He also extends his humanitarian efforts internationally in India, helping establish a development school for children with physical and cognitive challenges, demonstrating his commitment to global community service.

Bella Eberhart, 12, Wellington, Florida Bella has been giving back to her community since her first birthday; through “Parties with a Purpose,” which are annual birthday celebrations benefitting local nonprofits. Over time, she took the lead on this now-annual tradition and expanded it to include her siblings and other holidays. Last year, Bella coordinated the first student-run community service club at her middle school, organizing a series of successful “serve together” opportunities. She led various initiatives including a school-based food drive, sorting non-perishable items at Palm Beach County Food Bank, gleaning fresh produce at a local farm with CROS Ministries, cooking for families at Quantum House and a food distribution day with Restoration Bridge International. Bella is currently in the process of founding “B3 Powerful,” a nonprofit that will connect youth and families with service opportunities in their communities.

Colin Chu, 16, Palo Alto, California Inspired by seeing nutritious meals being discarded at his school, Colin founded Homeless Heroes, a youth-led nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about homelessness, increasing food sustainability and fostering an interconnected community. Colin strives to empower youth to engage in service work, inspiring the next generation to make a positive impact through meal packaging, food delivery and direct interaction with the unhoused. To date, the team at Homeless Heroes has donated over 7,000 meals monthly to shelters and schools nationwide, delivered over 135,000 meals and reached more than 3,500 unhoused individuals.

Elaina Johnson, 10, Broomfield, Colorado Elaina embodies compassion and generosity through dedicated efforts to combat hunger. The youngest winner in this year’s Food Heroes class, Elaina teamed up with her grandmother to source and distribute food to those in need, starting with the unhoused in her hometown of Denver. Then, as the city recently began receiving 50 new refugees daily, Elaina organized an effort at her school to raise money and supplies in support of these newcomers. She spends her own allowance on essential supplies for newly arrived refugees.

Emma Falkenmeyer, 18, Sherrill, New York Emma established School Lunch Pals in 2023 to collect funds to eliminate student lunch debt at her high school, ensuring that no parent or student is made to shoulder this financial burden alone. Now, with her local district qualifying for the universal student breakfast and lunch program Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), Emma’s organization provides funds for students who previously qualified for free or reduced lunch to buy additional items not covered by CEP. Emma was recently honored with a Certificate of Merit from the New York State Assembly for her impactful work.

Lauren Schroeder, 18, Dixon, Iowa While volunteering at a food shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic at age 14, Lauren noticed a lack of fresh vegetables in the donated groceries. A farm girl at heart, Lauren decided to address this gap with her own two hands, planting a half-acre of her family’s farm with 15 different varieties of vegetables. In the past two years alone, she has donated over 7,000 pounds of homegrown produce to charitable causes. Lauren is aiming to bring that total to 20,000 pounds by the time she starts college in the fall of 2025.

Natalie Deitz, 13, Abingdon, Maryland After having to overcome food anxiety due to a birth defect and attending a six-week inpatient feeding clinic, Natalie has since developed a passion for helping critically ill children. As a member of the all-youth board of advisors for We Cancerve, a nonprofit organization founded by 2020 Food Hero Grace Callwood, Natalie is committed to helping kids who are fighting difficult situations, like she had to. Natalie has prepared and delivered supplemental food kits for 100 youth in her local school system. She also led a craft project for pediatric oncology patients with the Cool Kids Campaign, delivered toys to pediatric patients and organized a shopping spree for homeless children.

Samantha Sandhaus, 18, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Samantha is committed to ensuring better nutritional access for all. A recent high school graduate from Central High School, she founded Feeding Philly as a sophomore. Led by students, this nationally recognized nonprofit organization serves 2,000 families in North Philadelphia, engages over 4,500 student volunteers regionally and repurposes more than 2,500 pounds of food. Under her leadership, Feeding Philly has significantly expanded, leveraging mutual aid programs and educational workshops to combat food waste and food insecurity within Philadelphia’s schools and communities.

Skai and Will Nzeuton, 18 and 16, New York City, New York Skai started the Food Security Club at Stuyvesant High School after witnessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has since expanded the impact of this club alongside his brother, Will. Together, their efforts led to an entirely new organization, Food for All NYC, which works to redistribute fresh foods from schools, grocery stores and delis to those in need across New York City. To date, Food for All NYC has rescued over 10,000 pounds of food, equating to 20,000 food items. The organization also has an app that connects local organizations to streamline food rescue operations. 

Steven Hoffen, 16, New York City, New York Steven’s mission to educate, empower and help those in need through the power of hydroponics resulted in the founding of his nonprofit, Growing Peace Inc., which helps marginalized communities gain access to healthy produce through hydroponic gardening. He witnessed this firsthand during a visit to Israel, where Arab and Jewish women collaborated on hydroponic gardening. Steven showcased the meaningful efforts of these women in his award-winning documentary film, “Growing Peace in the Middle East,” which highlights the healing power of food, even in the face of cultural differences. Growing Peace has installed numerous hydroponic gardening systems in communities in need to help alleviate food insecurity in his local area, including the Edgecombe Residential Treatment Facility and the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center. 

Ambassador Shreyaa and Esha Venkat, 21 and 18, Ashburn, Virginia Shreyaa and Esha are the founders of NEST4US, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to making the world a better place through kindness. NEST4US mobilizes volunteers worldwide to advance progress on societal issues and spark equitable solutions. Inspired by their childhood volunteer experiences with their family, Shreyaa and Esha started NEST4US to connect others with volunteer opportunities locally and globally. Under their leadership, NEST4US has mobilized over 7,500 volunteers, impacting communities in over 30 countries across six continents. Through one of their five programs, NEST Nurtures, they tackle global hunger, poverty and food waste through feeding initiatives, food rescues and hunger-based service projects.