In February 2022, Sharmila Rathinam found herself at a pivotal juncture, soul-searching and contemplating the trajectory of her life. With a rich history spanning over 25 years in finance and business management, she had left her mark while working with some of the industry's finest establishments. Yet, despite her accomplished career, she still had a profound longing for something more.

She yearned to channel her passion and expertise into something more localized, seeking to redefine her career's next chapter while making a tangible impact in her Bellevue community. For Sharmila, this wasn't just about professional growth; it was about finding her true calling and committing her time and resources to a cause close to her heart.

 

In late 2021, in the wake of the pandemic, Sharmila committed herself to a 10-day silent vipasanna meditation retreat. There she sat daily, allowing her mind to settle and wander. Repeatedly, the thought of ‘food insecurity’ came percolating up. In India, where she was raised, food never went to waste. This principle was instilled in her from a young age. But in the US, food waste is a major issue, contributing to both food insecurity and the environmental impact of methane and CO2 gas byproduct of food decomposition.   

 

When Sharmila returned home, she delved into research with a sense of urgency. It dawned on her that food insecurity wasn't just a distant issue; it loomed large, even in affluent Bellevue. Despite the presence of food banks capable of receiving perishable donations, she discovered some inefficiencies in the system. These inefficiencies posed significant barriers for smaller, specialty grocers—like Asian and Indian markets—to reach those in need effectively.

In that moment, Sharmila experienced a profound epiphany. Drawing upon her wealth of organizational expertise and her deep understanding of financial management, she resolved to tackle this challenge head-on. The culmination of her efforts emerged in the form of Eat Happy, a nonprofit dedicated to combatting food insecurity in their community. Through this innovative solution, Sharmila envisioned a future where access to nutritious food was not a luxury but a fundamental right for every member of the community. At this time, Sharmila met her co-founder, Sunita Shastri, a food entrepreneur who brings extensive knowledge and experience in the food space, and the two banded together to form Eat Happy!

Central to Sharmila and Sunita’s mission was the development of the EatHappyNow app, available on both iPhone and Android platforms. The interface helps organize volunteers to pick up and deliver food from a participating local grocer to the designated food bank or shelter for redistribution. Think of it as a ‘DoorDash’ filled with volunteers moving bulk food from one place to the next. Volunteers download the app to their phone, put in their location information, and the app lists deliveries for the day in their area. The volunteer chooses a job to complete that could be en route to their office or their errands for the day. They pick up and deliver the food, and poof! They are done! It's a  quick, charitable act that occurs from the confines of their car and they never even have to go out of their way to perform it!

 

At the time of this interview, Eat Happy has recruited over 250 volunteers to make these quick and simple service runs. In the fifteen months since launching the EatHappyNow app, its volunteer community has saved over 140,000 pounds of food from being wasted, providing enough perishable goods to make over 112,000 meals while preventing 350,000 pounds of CO2 from being emitted into the air from food decomposition!

 

Eat Happy has secured in-kind donations from Amazon Prime, whose drivers and larger truck space take larger drops of over 500 pounds (equating to about 2000 pounds/week of food), and DoorDash, whose drivers deliver goods from bakeries. Eat Happy is currently looking to expand its services - both in volunteers and in donations from grocery stores. In order to reach those goals, Eat Happy is looking for opportunities to partner with volunteer organizations looking for places to send their volunteers, and for additional funding through corporate and government grant opportunities and private donations.