Columbus teen turns leftovers into $100K food donation network

Jiya Patel, a 17-year-old from Columbus, Georgia, co-founded Thrive2Gethr after witnessing hunger in India and learning about food waste. Her student-led initiative now has around 1,200 members across 40 chapters nationwide. Together, they have helped redirect more than $100,000 worth of surplus food from restaurants and bakeries to shelters and food banks.