(upbeat music)
- Many problems in the world feel impossible to solve,
but for Adam Dole and the rest of the team
at Not Impossible Labs, working on these kinds of problems,
is just another day at the office.
(upbeat music)
- Not Impossible Labs is on a mission to change the world
through technology and story.
And our entire obsession is with making
the impossible, not impossible,
and seeing the world through the lens of, what is absurd?
The fact that the United States is not in famine.
There's no lack of food in our country.
And yet 50 million people in our country
don't know where their next meal is coming from.
This is a preventable problem in the United States.
And so it's our duty and responsibility
to dog pile on this problem and figure out a solution
that can address it.
- What if restaurants,
instead of letting their excess food go to waste,
were able to provide inexpensive meals for those in need.
And for those who don't know
where their next meal is coming from,
what if a fresh healthy meal was only a text message away?
(upbeat music)
(intense music)
Hunger Not Impossible, connects people who are food insecure
with stigma free access to nutritious meals.
They've done this by developing a platform
that's entirely text-based
and is as simple as sending a text with the word, "Hungry."
(message tone)
When the coronavirus pandemic hit,
they saw it as an opportunity
to begin piloting their platform in Houston, Los Angeles,
and five other cities across the United States.
- So when we first prototyped it and we tested it
I was like holding my breath.
It was so beautiful to watch orders come in, get fulfilled.
And I seriously, almost started crying.
There's a lot of technology that's involved
to make it seem really simple on the front end.
And that's the goal because we don't want people
to have to download a mobile app.
We want people to just to interact with their phones
the way they already do, but use it in a way
that addresses a major unmet need for them,
which is not knowing where their next meal is coming from.
- High profile athletes, Megan Rapinoe, Necco Umakay,
and Alex Morgan are among many individuals
who have stepped forward during COVID-19
to support fundraising efforts to launch the program.
Hunger Not Impossible, then worked with local organizations
to identify those struggling
with food insecurity to participate.
(upbeat music)
- This program kind of gave me hope.
This is all through the phone.
You send a text every day, like when you're...
That's my daughter eating. I'm sorry.
So I text "hungry" and then it gives you like a list
of nearby places.
Like it's super nearby, just like walking distance for me.
(gasps)
It makes it so much easier.
Sometimes we are low on food and it's really, really good.
It's all healthy options.
I think that's amazing, it's great.
- Hunger Not Impossible offers users
the ability to choose a prepared meal
from familiar restaurants in their neighborhood.
And they pick up their food alongside other
phoned in carry out orders.
(gentle music)
- People who don't know where their next meal is coming from
are now able to have a consistent meal
that's not just convenient, but also nutritious.
There's an opportunity to scale this and sustain it
so that we can truly address food insecurity in a new way.
- They already have plans to launch a new pilot in Portland
and are currently taking requests on their website
for additional cities to expand to next.
So far, they've served over 8,000 meals
and are on track to provide 1500 meals per week.
- We're excited to take this challenge on.
This is definitely one of the more audacious absurdities
that we've been tackling
and we haven't even scratched the surface yet.
(gentle music)
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