It isn’t every day that a high school student enters college with the support of an international peace organization.

Co-founded by recent FYIC student Levi Grimm, JEE Foods is a “nonprofit food rescue organization that leverages the 40% of perfectly good food that goes to waste each year to feed those in need” by redistributing it to 70 non-profit organizations across three states. Levi is a part of the Fall 2021 FYIC class but operates the business with other students at Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, and students from his alma mater, Butler Tech/Ross High School.

Starting as a class project, JEE Foods has grown immensely and is established as a fully operating 501c3 nonprofit. While discussing the organization, Levi stressed the importance of having that first person to believe in your idea. One might expect a high school teacher to be his "first person"; when asked who his “first person” was, Levi responded with the United Nations, saying it so nonchalantly that it was almost hard to believe. While the team has their financial support, the company is entirely run by college and high school students.

According to Levi, the FYIC courses have helped him fully understand business concepts in the real world. While he was operating a business before, he claims he was just learning along the way. Now, he has concrete knowledge of how to approach his position as assistant director. Another concept that has been extremely beneficial was how to cross-manage. Seeing as the classes are intertwined, he has been able to intertwine the departments of his company similarly. Going forward, Levi hopes to expand operations across multiple states.