COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) – Two Brookstone High School seniors have collected more than $200,000 in food donations nationwide through a nonprofit they founded to fight hunger.
Jiya Patel, founder of Thrive2gethr, said the idea started after a trip to India before her freshman year of high school, where she said she saw people going hungry. She said she noticed the same issue after returning to the United States.
“Me and my co-founder we kinda talked about it and decided to see if we could bridge the problem in Columbus, so it’s called Thrive2gethr,” Patel said.
The organization calls local restaurants and asks if they are willing to donate food that is already cooked and would otherwise be thrown away at closing time. Patel and co-founder Rayna Gor have found three restaurants that donate leftover food to homeless shelters.
“I know I’m privileged to have food everyday and a lot of people don’t have that same privilege so it’s good to just help in anyway I can,” Patel said.
“To be able to help other people I know they’re very appreciative of what we do, and to see the look on their faces when we are able to help them it’s such a rewarding process,” Gor said.
“When I was in high school I never seen people do things like that so to watch high school students do it today, it’s amazing,” said Trinicia Williams, manager at Columbus Best Doughnuts.
Chapters expand to other states
The initiative has expanded beyond Columbus, with high school students in Texas and New Jersey starting their own Thrive2gethr chapters.
As Patel and Gor prepare for college, they said they plan to continue the initiative and expand it further.
“I think we’ll definitely continue Thrive2gethr, and our main focus especially now as seniors because we’ll be going to college is to be a growing experience to colleges rather than just in high school but also find someone to take over the Brookstone chapter,” Gor said.
“I definitely want to continue the work we’ve been doing. I think it’s just a good way for high schoolers to get involved. I also in college want to get more colleges involved and make it more of a school-wide thing where people just have the opportunity to do that,” Patel said.
For information on starting a chapter or to place a donation: thrive2gethr.org/
Copyright 2026 WTVM. All rights reserved.
