Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky

As an undergraduate at UCLA in 2010, Rachel Sumekh and a few friends experimented with donating the excess funds on the meal plans to classmates who needed them. Now 28, Sumekh runs a national nonprofit, Swipe Out Hunger, which enlists students at 100 universities to donate their unused meal points to peers struggling to pay for food. The group was recognized by the Obama administration as a Champion of Change, and the organization has helped author legislation related to hunger on college campuses. Sumekh, the child of Iranian Jewish immigrants, was nominated by a Forward reader and lives in Los Angeles.

Rachel Sumekh

Breakfast Two eggs, sautéed kale, half an avocado (I’m from L.A. if that wasn’t clear).

What’s the last thing you listened to on your phone? Lizzo, “Truth Hurts”

Earliest Jewish memory=: Watching my grandfather Solomon write Hebrew characters over and over again as we looked on. He was invested in us learning Hebrew, as he was Persian.

Heroes: My grandmothers, Iran and Mohtaram, and Ruth Messinger.

What is your favorite thing about being Jewish? The smell of a hearty khoresht and saffron rich rice as I walk into my parent’s house for Shabbat.

What app can you not live without? Audible — gotta have audiobooks ready to go for L.A. traffic

Weekend ritual: Spending an hour or two at a coffee shop with just my notebook and herbal tea.

Read more:

Rachel featured among other “doers” in the Forward

Rachel in the Los Angeles Business Journal

Follow Rachel Sumekh on Twitter @rachelsumekh or on Instagram @rachelsumekh

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