How Georgia Tech Students Revolutionized a Nonprofit's Food Operations

Using Capstone Project to Address Nonprofit's Challenges

Ryan Jones, the executive director of Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries, faced a growing need for food in Gwinnett County that was straining the organization's resources. Last year, they served 27,000 individuals, and this year, they expect to serve about 6,000 more. It was in this context that the group of eight Georgia Tech students stepped in with their capstone project.

Julia Flake, one of the students, explained that getting certain foods from the Atlanta Community Food Bank could be competitive. As a result, the nonprofit had to rely on more expensive store-bought food. But the students came up with a creative solution - they created and coded a notification system that sends alerts to the staff's phones when the Food Bank has the items they need. This allows NCM employees to quickly log on, add the items to the cart, and purchase greater pallets of food at a much cheaper rate.

Optimizing Warehouse Space for Greater Food Storage

In addition to the notification system, the students also analyzed and redesigned NCM's warehouse to make it more space-efficient. By optimizing the warehouse, they were able to go from storing 33 to 56 pallet spaces. This means they can now store more pallets coming from the Atlanta Community Food Bank, enabling them to take in more food and say yes to more donations.

The impact of these changes is significant. As Flake quantified, they are able to serve around 566 additional clients monthly, doubling the number of people they can serve below the poverty line in their service area. This is a godsend for the nonprofit, which often doesn't have the time or skillsets to implement such optimizations on its own.

Introducing a New Online Point System for Clients

To further enhance the food distribution process, the students also made a new online point system for NCM's clients. This system allows clients to get fresher food more often instead of only visiting the pantry once a month. It provides a more convenient and efficient way for clients to access the food they need.

Jones hopes that when people see how these students used their engineering skills to help the nonprofit, they will understand that nonprofits like his can benefit from people with a wide range of skill sets. It is a real-world application of their skills that has had a positive impact on the community.