Ryan Rossow, Co-Founder of the South Bay Food Initiative, Receives Charlaine Deatherage Award from Mira Costa High School

Manhattan Beach, CA, May 30, 2019 --(PR.com)-- Ryan Rossow was the recipient of the Charlaine Deathrage Award at Mira Costa High School. The award is given to the highest ranking students of the Junior class who have earned a grade point average of 4.0 or higher. Many in the South Bay know Rossow as the co-founder and President the South Bay Food Initiative, an organization that helps local food banks, food pantries and other non-profits while providing community service hours for volunteers. He has been leading the organization for three years in Southern California.

"There is a huge issue with food insecurity in Los Angeles. Over 1.6 million people don't have enough to eat and we have students in the South Bay who want to make a difference. We decided to connect the two through the South Bay Food Initiative (SBFI) website," says Rossow. According to the founder and developer of the website, "Volunteers and Charities can sign up on-line, and we coordinate events like food sorting, food baskets, food drives, and food insecurity awareness events."

Many organizations like the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Shared Bread have already benefitted from the hundreds of volunteer hours donated by the South Bay Food Initiative. The students and volunteers also appreciate the ease of finding community service hours through the SBFI website. Alec Bailey, a Junior at Mira Costa says, "I just look on their website and I can match a date that works well with my schedule for volunteering. I need volunteer hours for organizations that I belong to, like the National Honor Society." According to Rossow, "We have expanded to include more schools in the area like Redondo Union High School, Peninsula High School and Palos Verdes High School. For volunteers and organizations alike it is a great platform for connecting resources to feed the hungry." For more information about the student-run organization, visit the South Bay Food Initiative Website.