Broad Run Senior One of 10 Nationwide to Present at Facebook HQ

With the school year already underway, the annual shift from summer to “game on” for teachers and students means it’s time to focus on classes and schoolwork once again.

For rising Broad Run High School senior Shreyaa Venkat this also means integrating running NEST4US, a non-profit “dedicated to nourishing the hungry, inspiring youth, & connecting the world” into her busy schedule.

She has created a virtual network of volunteers and food donors and coordinates food distribution in addition to managing additional projects to help others in need. All this is coordinated on a website which allows automated signups for food and other donations, volunteers, and then tracks all the activity.

Co-founded with her younger sister Esha in 2016, NEST4US is “dedicated to working with communities to provide volunteer and leadership opportunities to make the world better through kindness,” according to the mission statement. Showing “kindness” initially translated into an organized way to help feed the homeless in Washington DC.

A lifelong resident of Fairfax and Loudoun, Venkat said “my family would go into DC to sightsee quite often and we would see a lot of homeless people on the streets. I wondered if it would help to give them money; but we knew it could go toward a wrong purpose and didn’t want that to happen. We wanted to find an alternate way to help them.”

“Connecting excess food waste to homeless people and being able to feed them—the idea of creating a local food distribution program—was how NEST4US was born,” she said. The sisters initially reached out by contacting shelters through websites and calling to see if they needed any food or sponsors.

They first worked with the Georgetown Ministry Center where they have since brought donated food regularly and hosted the Thanksgiving feast with the residents there for several years. “What’s special about that is we don’t just feed them; it’s a buffet line. We take our own plate and sit down and talk with them. Thanksgiving is about family and we want them to feel like they’re part of a family. We bring a lot of youth and teens with us so kids can show they really care about them as well,” said Venkat.

“We always have adult supervision; my mom is the legal president and volunteer coordinator who also makes sure we always have other adults with us,” said Venkat, who also met DC Commissioner Jason "Tino" Anthony through the Georgetown Ministry Center. Commissioner Anthony now often attends NEST4US events.

Venkat is one of 10 students selected nationwide to participate in the third annual #Digital4Good event at Facebook HQ in Menlo Park CA on September 16th. The event is spearheaded by #ICANHELP, a non-profit organization committed to empowering students to play an active role in improving the online environment. This recognition brought Venkat to the attention of Two Hat, a content moderation company that is an official supporter of #Digital4Good.

“Leah MacDermid at Two Hat is helping and mentoring me in advance of the Sept. 16 presentation. I’ve already learned a lot on how to improve my pitch and how to better market our programs. ‘Keep it on point and don’t deviate a lot!’ She has been really helpful in conveying how to message to people. They have committed to mentoring me going forward, which is exciting,” said Venkat.

“It is very cool especially now to know that Two Hat works to stop cyber bullying and hate stuff online. We need to promote that positive and inspirational message. It goes hand in hand with what we do, so we have similar objectives—it’s very relatable,” said Venkat.

Leah McDermid of Two Hat will join Venkat at Facebook headquarters. “We at Two Hat are so proud to support what young people like Shreyaa are able to achieve in a safe, moderated content environment,” said McDermid. Two Hat provides its clients including the world’s largest gaming companies with predictive content moderation platforms and will participate in Digital4Good next week.

Heading to college next year won’t change Venkat’s passion and commitment to NEST4US. “Regardless where I go, I’ll open a chapter. Homelessness and food waste is everywhere, not just in Loudoun County or DC. We have plans to expand to different states. We’ll also be releasing an app that will allow people to contact us if they have excess food they want to donate or if they are looking for volunteer opportunities,” Venkat said.

For more information on NEST4US visit https://www.nest4us.org/index.html