Growing up as a child of Korean immigrant parents, Robert Lee experienced hunger first hand. There were times where all his family could afford was instant ramen. While studying at NYU's Stern School of Business, he joined a campus organization that delivered leftover cafeteria food to local homeless shelters. It was there that Robert learned that one in six Americans struggle with food insecurity. Yet strangely, 40% of food in the US goes to waste. After graduating, he worked for JP Morgan where the pay was high. Simultaneously, he started the nonprofit organization Rescuing Leftover Cuisine and ran it during the weekends and evenings. As a social entrepreneur, Robert worked doggedly. “If something is important to you, you make time. And you do it," he said. Eventually, he quit JP Morgan so he could work for Rescuing Leftover Cuisine full time. People discouraged him, thinking he would regret leaving such a lucrative job. Yet he persisted: “I had this crazy belief that I was right and everyone else was wrong.” At first, the NGO had very little resources and faced rejection after rejection when speaking to the local restaurants.  Robert was full of self-doubt. “I wasn’t sure if I was the right person to be leading the organization,” he said of his early days. Only five out of a hundred restaurants were willing to donate their leftover food. Yet after each rejection, Robert Lee repeated a mantra to himself: "For every no that you get, you’re one step closer to a yes.” Robert Lee's original vision was to end food waste in New York City. Soon, the movement spread to 12 cities and the NGO is on track to deliver its millionth pound of leftover food to the hungry. Rescuing Leftover Cuisine works with partner food providers and matches them with local volunteers that carry leftover food to local homeless shelters and food kitchens. Nearly 200 cities want to start a chapter of the organization, and it's only a matter of time that Robert Lee will accomplish that. In 2015, Robert Lee was named a CNN Hero.   Show Links Do the KIND Thing: Think Boundlessly, Work Purposefully, Live Passionately Hardcover by Daniel Lubetzky www.heroku.com circleci.com Trello slack.com salesforce.com Volunteermatch.org Idealist.org Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children by John Wood Show Notes Robert Lee’s parents immigrated to the US from South Korea They grew up poor and sometimes could only afford to eat ramen His family never tolerated food waste Robert went to NYU on a full scholarship At NYU he joined a club (Two Birds With One Stone) that delivered leftover food from the cafeteria to a local homeless shelter When he joined the club, Robert entered with curiosity As a freshman he wanted to expand the outreach for the club 40% of the food we produce in the US goes to waste! We produce enough food to feed everyone in the world Global hunger is a matter of distribution Much of land and water is used to produce food, so all that is going to waste Food waste produces methane gas Food waste ranks third globally in terms of carbon emissions from food waste Restaurants are concerned about getting sued for donating food that gets people sick Research shows that it is extremely unlikely for a business to get sued for donating food Robert Lee worked for JP Morgan for about a year after graduating from NYU He wanted financial stability Robert worked on Rescuing Leftover Cuisine part-time while working at JP Morgan Robert figured out a way to automate a lot of the delivery process through technology Rescuing Leftover Cuisine has a tiered volunteer model In 2013 they won $1,000 in seed money on campus to start Rescuing Leftover Cuisine “You never have time. You make time.” “If something is important to you, you make time. And you do i