Swipe Out Hunger, formerly Swipes for the Homeless, was established as a University of California, Los Angeles student organization in the Fall of 2009 in order to help alleviate the susceptibility of the neighboring homeless population. On-campus residents with meal plans that allow them to roll over unused meals from week to week, tend to accrue many unused meals, or “swipes”, by the end of each
academic quarter. At the end of the quarter, these students can donate their unused meal swipes, which would otherwise go to waste, to Swipe Out Hunger. Our organization then takes the meals to homeless shelters, as well as the homeless living on the streets, throughout Los Angeles. In addition, many other sub-projects target wasted food in the residential dining halls, fast-food eateries on campus, and community businesses in order to salvage that food for those less fortunate on a daily basis. Swipe Out Hunger hopes not only to feed the homeless, but also to educate the students on campus about the homelessness and hunger problem in Los Angeles, and what they can do to help.
