Apollin Lu, a 17-year-old from British Columbia, founded the Food Recovery Alliance to address food waste by mobilizing young volunteers to collect surplus produce from local farms and redistribute it to shelters and community organizations. With more than 140 volunteers, they have saved over 9,000 pounds of fresh produce valued at over $32,000 since its inception. The organization also created an invoicing app for farmers and established a community garden to educate younger students about sustainable farming and food waste reduction.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-20,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Apollin Lu, at just 17 years old, founded the Food Recovery Alliance in British Columbia. Over three years, this organization has mobilized over 140 young volunteers, collecting 9,000 pounds of fresh produce from local farms and redistributing it to shelters and community organizations instead of letting it go to waste. The rescued food is valued at more than $32,000. Lu was recently awarded the 2026 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes for her work in reducing food waste and aiding those in need. Growing up on her family’s garlic farm near Greater Victoria and Vancouver, she observed that despite farmers’ best efforts, significant amounts of fresh produce often went unused due to mismatches between supply chains and demand. Inspired by this inefficiency and the stark contrast with community hunger, Lu initiated her food rescue network, which has notably gained traction among youth volunteers in recent years.
Written for “Youth Food Rescue Network” on 2026-10-04,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Apollin Lu is only 17, but she is already leading a growing youth network that is helping tackle food waste across British Columbia.
asserted
that → lead → Columbia
She founded the Food Recovery Alliance, which has mobilised more than 140 young volunteers who have saved 9,000 pounds of fresh produce from going to waste.
asserted
who → found → waste
Together, they collected surplus produce from local farms and redistributed it to shelters and community organisations.
asserted
they → collect → shelters
Lu was recognised with the 2026 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes for her efforts to reduce food waste and help people in need.
asserted
Lu → recognise → need
She saw food waste up close
asserted
She → see → waste
Apollin Lu grew up on her family’s garlic farm.
asserted
Lu → grow → farm
She watched her father work the soil for a decade.
asserted
father → watch → decade
Her neighbours also had farms, and she noticed a pattern.
asserted
she → have → pattern
Lots of this fresh produce ended up going to waste.
asserted
Lots → end → waste
Farmers weren’t discarding vegetables out of negligence.
asserted
Farmers → discard → negligence
They were managing supply chains that didn’t always align with demand.
asserted
that → manage → demand
She started asking herself: why is good food going to waste while people in the community are starving?
asserted
people → start → community
By the time she got into ninth grade, she knew she had to do something.
asserted
she → get → something
So she formed the Food Recovery Alliance to address that discrepancy.
asserted
she → form → discrepancy
The work began quietly.
asserted
work → begin → ?
Lu spent two years doing exactly what most non-profit founders do at the start: cold-calling farmers, building trust with storefront managers and convincing her peers that weekend farm work sounded fun.
asserted
work → spend → peers
Eventually, the farmers joined her programme.
asserted
farmers → join → programme
By now, her team had built an invoicing app so that farmers receive a tax receipt the moment food is donated.
asserted
food → build → receipt
Along with her volunteers, she also put together a community garden where younger students grow fresh produce and donate it, while also learning sustainable farming.
asserted
students → put → farming
By the time the organisation was formally incorporated under the BC Societies Act in February 2025, it had already collected 7,272 pounds of produce valued at over $25,210.
asserted
it → incorporate → 25,210
“This year we really started to get a lot of youth interest in our organisation, which I think will help us sustain long term,” Lu told Victoria News.
asserted
Lu → start → News
Over the past three years, Lu has collected 9,000 pounds of locally grown crops, valued at more than $32,000, from farmers across Greater Victoria and Vancouver, and donated them rather than allowing them to end up as waste.
asserted
them → collect → waste
From farms to families
Food Recovery Alliance fills a crucial gap.
asserted
Alliance → fill → gap
Every year, farms yield more than they can market.
asserted
they → yield → more
Retailers and wholesalers pass on imperfect or surplus stock.
asserted
Retailers → pass → stock
So the organisation partners with Mustard Seed to collect and redistribute this excess produce to people in need.
asserted
organisation → partner → need
The organisation processes more than 10,000 pounds of rescued food each week from 30-plus donors, reaching roughly 70,000 food-insecure people across the region.
asserted
organisation → process → region
Volunteers show up at farms during harvest season and gather what would otherwise go unharvested or unsold.
asserted
what → show → season
They coordinate delivery to non-profits, which then redistribute it.
asserted
which → coordinate → it
“It’s hard for a lot of farmers to trust someone they don’t know to come on their farm.
asserted
they → ’ → farm
We really want to partner with Rise Up and other organisations, to spread the word and build legitimacy,” Lu told the outlet.
asserted
Lu → want → outlet
After building legitimacy, the organisation is now piloting partnerships with organisations such as Rise Up, aiming to expand its credibility as it grows its Vancouver network.
asserted
it → build → network
She grabbed national attention after winning the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, which annually recognises 25 young leaders aged 8 to 18 whose service work demonstrates a public impact.
asserted
work → grab → impact
For Lu, the recognition validates what she already knows from the work itself: that youth-led initiatives can scale.
asserted
initiatives → validate → scale
The Aporia
