Meal Lift

Optimizing Food Redistribution via Algorithmic Matching

Surplus

Food donors have excess inventory but lack efficient distribution channels

Optimization

Meal Lift's algorithmic matching connects surplus with need in real-time

Impact

Food reaches shelters efficiently, reducing waste and fighting hunger

The Impact

0+
lbs Goods Delivered Monthly
0
Meals Served Monthly
14
Partner Locations
5
Partners Count

Community Partners

We work with organizations across Europe and the United States to optimize food redistribution and humanitarian aid delivery. Our partners range from international aid organizations to local food recovery networks.

The App in Action

For Donors

1

Quick Inventory Logging

Snap a photo, add details, and log your surplus goods in seconds

2

Automated Matching

Our algorithm finds the nearest shelter with matching needs

3

Driver Dispatch

Volunteer drivers receive automated notifications and handle pickup

NOTIFICATION PREVIEW

✓ Match found! Driver en route to pickup location

For Recipients

1

Real-Time Inventory

Shelters update their needs and capacity in real-time

2

Geospatial Matching

The system matches you with nearby donors based on proximity and need

3

Delivery Tracking

Track incoming deliveries with real-time updates and ETA

ROUTING MAP PREVIEW

Driver 2.3 mi away • ETA: 8 min

The Math Behind the Mission

Meal Lift leverages computational optimization and machine learning to solve the geospatial matching problem at scale, ensuring maximum efficiency and impact.

Geospatial Matching

Voronoi diagram-based partitioning optimizes donor-recipient pairs by minimizing Euclidean distance while accounting for road network constraints.

Objective Function:
min Σ d(Donorᵢ, Recipientⱼ)

ML Routing Optimization

Gradient-boosted decision trees predict optimal routing sequences, reducing delivery time by an average of 23% compared to naive nearest-neighbor approaches.

Gradient Boosting:
f(x) = Σ αₖ hₖ(x)

Real-Time Inventory

Graph-based data structures enable O(log n) updates and queries, supporting thousands of concurrent transactions with sub-100ms latency.

Time Complexity:
O(log n)

Network Graph Visualization

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