Ethan Chan was a high school freshman living in Media when he saw his suburban neighbors struggling to get by in the pandemic, writes Nate File for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

He and his sister, Megan, delivered letters in the neighborhood asking for donations. A week later, his family drove around to collect the food and give it to the Media food bank.

Fast forward to 2021 when Ethan and his friends wanted a new project to inspire them, with a focus on local communities. He remembered his food collection experience.

In March 2021, Food4Philly officially launched.

Today, Food4Philly is entirely student-run, with more than 100 members and 10 affiliate chapters in area high schools and in other states.

“I don’t think any of us had ever started some large organization or project like this before,” said Zaid Salaria, another Food4Philly cofounder. “But we really wanted to be able to reach as many people as possible.”

Members work with local restaurants and grocery stores to donate excess food to food pantries and food banks.

Its estimated the Food4Phillly network has donated more than 10,000 pounds of surplus food to local pantries and food banks.

Read more about Food4Philly in The Philadelphia Inquirer.