Youth In Action: Colin Chu’s Homeless Heroes

Written by: Seona Srivastava, Student at Aragon High School

In today’s world of environmental challenges, youth play a crucial role in driving sustainable practices. Through transformative community initiatives and creative environmental projects, the young trailblazers of San Mateo County are shaping a greener, brighter future. We’re thrilled to spotlight these incredible young individuals and share their stories.

If you are a high school student improving the sustainability of San Mateo County, apply for our Youth Sustainability Award!

Name: Colin Chu

Organization: Homeless Heroes
Homeless Heroes aims to address environmental and social justice by delivering leftover food from local schools to homeless shelters and food banks.

Impact to Date: 135,000 meals delivered, reaching over 3,500 people experiencing homelessness.

How did you get into sustainability?
I’ve always been passionate about climate change, sustainability and making a positive change. When schools were coming back from the pandemic, I saw how many meals and trays of food were being thrown out of my school’s cafeteria. I was motivated and I did research to learn about the impact food waste has on climate change and the importance of nutrition.

“I learned that three of the top ten highest homeless cities are in the Bay Area: San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco.”

What were some of the key steps in launching your nonprofit?
I reached out first to the staff at my school’s cafeteria and asked if we could deliver any of their unused and unexpired food. It was a lengthy process working with the school administration to create an agreement to waive the liability of the school cafeteria’s food once it was off their hands. I also had to coordinate and communicate with shelters to understand what their needs and demographics were. Going into this project, I really wanted to focus on communities that are underrepresented.

What does the process look like?
The cafeteria staff help us ensure that the food that we deliver stays clean and completely unused. After we load our trays of food into the car, we bring them ourselves to the shelters. We have a lot of student volunteers that help us.

What are some of the organizations you work with?
We work with LifeMoves, an organization with homeless shelters across the Bay Area. Our first delivery went to the Vendome in San Mateo. The Epicurean Group, a sustainable food catering company, and the Davidson Group also work with us. I was lucky enough to have a mentor, Nuntiya Smith, for two years. She gave me feedback and suggestions: the best ways to receive funding, how to launch a nonprofit, how to apply for fellowships, how to advocate for causes that are important to you and how to connect with other youth.

How were you able to get exposure for your nonprofit?
It was important to me to not focus on the recognition at all, which might sound counterintuitive. I focused on the organization and really making a meaningful impact on the homeless community and youth.

“I emphasized creating meaningful relationships, having an impact and advancing environmental and social justice.”

What are some challenges you’ve faced and how have you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges was the liability issue where cafeterias don’t want to be liable for food. Coming up with an agreement to create liability forms was a challenge at the beginning, but it was ultimately successful. Surprisingly, it was difficult to find homeless shelters when I was reaching out because they have different needs: too many or little meals, fully cooked or fresh, etc. There were some logistical challenges too, like finding a common time at which school cafeterias have the food prepared and homeless shelters are also able to receive the food.

What does the future of Homeless Heroes look like?
We’re creating a legal and logistical framework for expanding across the state and country to create chapters for schools. I’m also excited to see how we can expand beyond delivering food and support other ways to address sustainability, the climate crisis and malnutrition.

What advice would you have to those interested in making our world more sustainable?
Through my experiences, I have learned that we each bring so many important and meaningful things to the table, like hobbies, interests and skills. Even if they’re completely unrelated to sustainability or climate change, it’s necessary for us to all come together and share our unique experiences and passions to make change wherever we can. No one should feel like they can’t make an impact in this space. Everyone should feel empowered to make a difference.