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Brian Garrabrant of Margate, New Jersey, is only 17 years old, but already understands about food scarcity, poverty and hunger.? Brian has seen first-hand how food insecurity plagues Atlantic County, which is the poorest and rated the least healthy in New Jersey. There are close to 7,000 people without homes in the state.

While working at Hot Bagels & More in Margate since March 2021, Brian recognized the enormous waste of food at the end of every day when all the remaining bagels would be thrown away and felt compelled to do something. He discussed the issue with his boss, but she advised that no one would pick up the bagels and that the local area food pantries and shelters could not accept unpackaged food. He decided to press on and called several organizations in the greater Atlantic City, NJ area asking if they would accept bagels if he found a way to package and deliver them. Many were skeptical at first, but eventually gave him the OK. With partners in place, he created Brian’s Bagels, a food redistribution network. At the end of each shift, he transports the bagels in bags to his home, packages the bagels into half-dozen bags, and then delivers them to various food pantries, the Salvation Army, and individuals who are homeless in the Atlantic City area. To date, Brian has rescued and redistributed over 60,000 bagels to those in need.

Also, Brian has the primary leadership role for Post Crashers, a youth-led service-learning club made up of over 500 students ranging in age from grade 4 to college. It is in its ninth year of service and is associated with the American Legion Post 295 of Northfield. Post Crashers supports our veterans and combats poverty, addresses food security, nutrition and agriculture. They have held over 100 “crashes” and meet monthly and on major days of service like 9/11 National Day of Service, Make a Difference Day, Family Volunteer Day, MLK Day of Service, and Global Youth Service Day, plus many other days. They have made 18,000 lunches for people who are homeless; 4,000 full-course meals for veterans who are homeless, and have grown over 12,000 pounds of produce. Brian helps organize these activities and supplies bagels for the breakfast sandwiches and meals that Post Crashers volunteers make.

In the years that Brian has worked to end hunger, he learned that food redistribution is key, as?one-third of all food in the world is wasted. If every school campus, government agency, and business worked on food redistribution, it would not only feed the hungry, but would also reduce carbon dioxide emissions. (Food waste sends 4.4 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually and is the #2 most-effective solution to reverse climate change.) Brian is now working to expand Brian’s Bagels to not only collect, bag, and donate bagels to those food insecure, but to provide bi-weekly breakfast sandwiches for the Salvation Army’s clients, particularly the children that they serve. (15% of people who are homeless in NJ are children). He believes that if just one person from every food establishment took on the responsibility to redistribute food, they could significantly alleviate and possibly even eradicate hunger.