Nicole Muller

Any other ordinary 16-year-old high school junior would be more worried about other tasks like what to wear to prom or what college to apply to. But Nicole Muller is no ordinary 16-year-old high school junior. Founder of the Neighbors-4-Neighbors food drive (fall 2009), Nicole has help fill a depleted food bank in Charlottesville, Virginia while maintaining a GPA of 3.96 (out of a 4-point scale) and taking AP and Honor classes.

What began as a small email campaign to get her 13 neighbors to donate 220 pounds of non-perishable food had quickly turned into a food drive to reach a ton of food, an eventual goal of 10,000 pounds. Her efforts resulted in nearly 18,000 pounds (9 tons) of food being donated to food banks across the nation. Nicole’s efforts through Neighbors-4-Neighbors have served over 14,000 meals to needy neighbors with a goal of getting all 50 states to participate with the organization in ending hunger.

Currently 30 of those 50 states are actively involved in strategically putting an end to hunger with help from their local government. Her food drive has even reached states as far as Alaska. As a result, Nicole has won Virginia's only food award donation from the Paul Newman charitable foundation for Chartottesville’s local food bank and has spurred media attention in an effort to spread the word to further ending the hunger crisis in America.

As she comes to the end of her high school career, Nicole’s passion and drive has not stopped or wavered. Nicole is planning to make Neighbors-4-Neighbors an annual fall food drive event in an effort to continue to end hunger. Through her efforts, Nicole has driven community involvement from people of all ages like the 7-year-old girl in her local community or the 93-year-old-senior in another state.