Andrew Glantz – GiftAMeal

Andrew Glantz is the founder and CEO of GiftAMeal. GiftAMeal donates one meal for every photo snapped within their app in a participating restaurant. Andrew started GiftAMeal by combining some of the cultural trends of social media and the trend of giving back. He had observed that younger generations appreciate supporting an organization that seeks to give back so he combined the photo sharing aspect with his desire to make a difference. Andrew partners with over one hundred food banks and nearly a thousand restaurants to make this a possibility.

Andrew has worked hard seeking to make the adoptability seamless and as easy as possible for the restaurant owners to get involved, often making it compatible with their already established software. One of the largest challenges Andrew faced in getting his idea started was getting others to accept and believe in its value. He initially struggled to scale the business, where most restaurants would desire a proof of concept, something he wouldn’t have without their help. Once businesses saw other restaurants joining and the benefits that it was having for them, others were quick to follow.

Every month, Andrew and his organization are able to donate to over 100 local food banks and donate over 50,000 meals to the restaurant’s local areas. So far GiftAMeal has donated over 1.65 million meals to families in need.