“I Have a Dream:” An Environmentally Sound Model for Feeding Sweden’s Refugees and Poor
In 2011, Lasse Wennman recognized an increasing need to find ways to help feed a growing number of refugees and poor in his hometown of Gävle, Sweden, just an hour north of Stockholm. He started a volunteer organization that he named Matakuten (which translates from Swedish to mean “Food Emergency”).
In just six years, he has grown the organization to the point where Matakuten provided 150 tons of food to approximately 12,000 people in the local area during 2016. The model Lasse developed to coordinate donations from nearly all local restaurants, grocery stores, and other businesses in Gävle and the surrounding area, and deliver them to those in need, has gained widespread attention in Sweden.
He has consulted with other municipalities and nearby countries, teaching the strategy he developed. His methods of re-distributing food and other personal items that would otherwise become waste, won him national recognition as one of “Sweden’s Heroes” in the Environmental category, as well as a meeting with King Karl Gustav VI to describe his future plans.
In his presentation, on Thursday October 12 from 3:30-5pm in Dunleavy Hall room 127, Lasse will recount his experiences and share lessons learned in building, from the ground up, a charitable organization based on community partnerships that efficiently feeds the poor.