Developed by the Location Innovation Lab in 2018, this application was written to address food insecurity and in recognition of food security’s impact on academic success. Food waste prevention is an additional benefit of the program.  

After a catered event, the hosts are prompted to verify the amount of leftovers before texts are sent to students.  

The system features a secure student sign-up portal and a management dashboard for event coordinators to identify and manage participating events. The dashboard can provide program metrics including the number of notifications sent, number of events, current sign ups, and percentage of participants identifying as food insecure.

More than 1,200 students signed up during UO’s 2022 fall term.  Since the launch of the program, we’ve sent more than 220,000 text notifications.