Doing Good After Graduation

In Clinton, Md., a warehouse gets ready to ship fresh fruits and vegetables otherwise destined for waste to local families and businesses. For Evan Lutz ’14, co-founder and CEO of Hungry Harvest, it’s just another day on the job.

Lutz was one of three finalists from the venture track of the 2014 Do Good Challenge, an eight-week competition designed to inspire Terps to make the greatest social impact they can for their favorite causes. Students team up to volunteer, raise funds, promote awareness or advance their own social ventures.

The challenge is hosted by Smith’s Center for Social Value Creation and the School of Public Policy’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership.

“The Do Good Challenge helps students take what they’re doing — what they are passionate about — to the next level and empowers them to think about what that next level is,” says Ryan Steinbach, Center for Social Value Creation community manager.

Since competing in the challenge and graduating from Smith, Lutz has pursued his venture full time, turning his Do Good Challenge finals appearance as Recovered Food into Hungry Harvest.

“I knew we were going to start Hungry Harvest after college,” Lutz says. “But the Do Good Challenge gave us validation that our idea would really work.”

Steinbach says Lutz had a powerful idea but was still figuring it out during the Do Good Challenge. “He took the feedback received during the Do Good Challenge to heart, worked his butt off and now runs a rapidly growing organization,” Steinbach says. “The Do Good Challenge helped propel Hungry Harvest from a really good idea to a profitable social enterprise.” /EB/

Do Good Challenge Finalists

Top finishers in the 2014 Do Good Challenge venture track:

• Winner: Brooks Gabel, justlikeyou.org
• Second place: Nick Henninger, Community Pipeline
• Third place: Evan Lutz, Recovered Food (now Hungry Harvest)