Dreaming of Ways to Serve Beyond the King Holiday

Most people expect “giving” to be in the form of gifts, but Patrick Alvarez, the original Founder of Project Feed Me, takes a unique approach to giving back. Alvarez started a non-profit organization called Project Feed Me in 2008.

The primary focus of his organization was to provide assistance to people who were underprivileged, create a supportive community and provide meals during various times throughout the year, especially on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. While these were Project Feed Me’s original goals, Alvarez said the organization quickly transformed into something more:

“A lot of people who were involved in Project Feed Me or volunteered also benefited from the program because they had the chance to interact with people who they would have never interacted with before, specifically within the Syracuse community,” said Alvarez, who grew up in the Bronx. “It bridged the gap between Syracuse students and people who lived in Syracuse.”

The Importance of Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Support

Providing meals is now one of the major hallmarks of the organization, but Alvarez said it was unintentional. He made the decision to offer free meals based on his own experiences of hunger and lack of corporate support.

“I used to benefit from a lot of these Thanksgiving meals, and in light of the economic crisis, a lot of corporate sponsors cut funding and weren’t able to sponsor different programs,” said Alvarez, who went to high school in Harlem.

Through volunteer work while in high school, Alvarez realized various community organizations had lost their corporate sponsors and could no longer provide the amount of funding as in previous years. Alvarez took the initiative and reached out to various investors to obtain money to feed families.

This also sparked his interest in social entrepreneurship because it incorporated his two passions of business and helping those in need:

“The importance of social entrepreneurship is very important because it adds social benefit and it helps companies help address a certain social need,” said Alvarez who is now working in financial rotational program on Wall Street. “I think that it turns the idea that businesses have a bottom line and there is no social aspect to it and now in the past few years we are seeing more and more people are wanting to become entrepreneurs.”

Now and in the Future

Alvarez, who describes himself as altruistic, wants to make an impact.

Am I going to contribute something meaningful to my community?” asked Alvarez. “Figuring out how to make that intentional, how to make that meaningful and impactful, that’s the challenge – that’s what I have talks with myself and with other people how to do that, but I just haven’t figured out that part yet.”

Alvarez is no longer in Syracuse or the President of Project Feed Me. However, he hopes that his first non-profit will encourage young people to address social problems in their communities.

“Ultimately what I wanted to inspire other people to do is not just join project feed me but to continue and start their own ventures like project feed me and address other social issues,” said Alvarez who has been featured in various publications such as the New York Times and New York Daily News. “We’ve seen a lot of people become social entrepreneurs… I hope people look at Project Feed Me and say I can create something else and address other issues.”