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Integrity In Action

Maria Rose Belding Receives 2022 Integrity in Action Award

This year’s award recipient began making big changes in the world as a mere eighth grader who not only conceived of an idea to address an issue, but also had the conviction to act on it.  At fourteen, Maria Rose Belding was tasked with throwing away the expired food at a food pantry where she was volunteering.
This year’s award recipient began making big changes in the world as a mere eighth grader who not only conceived of an idea to address an issue, but also had the conviction to act on it.  At fourteen, Maria Rose Belding was tasked with throwing away the expired food at a food pantry where she was volunteering. The absurdity of it all struck her as she carried armloads of macaroni and cheese boxes to dumpsters in a parking lot filled with hungry people waiting to enter the shelter. Belding came up with the notion of creating a database that could match businesses with excess food with food pantries and emergency food providers serving people in need. With the help of a school friend who was proficient in coding, Belding co-founded the MEANS Database in 2015. Currently, the nonprofit tech company has rerouted more than 5 million pounds of food to communities in need across the United States. The organization focuses on two major goals: reducing food waste and rerouting that food to feed people facing food insecurity. 

Now 26 years old, Belding is the Chair of the Board at MEANS, a role she transitioned to in 2021 to pursue her studies at Georgetown University School of Medicine. During Belding’s 11-year tenure as the organization’s first Executive Director, MEANS transformed from that idea of an Iowa eighth grader to a multimillion dollar industry leader in food recovery and emergency meal provision. It is active in 50 states, and D.C., which is its homebase.

A frequent speaker on food insecurity, inclusive innovation, and building sustainable corporate cultures, Belding has delivered addresses in 28 U.S. states and at the Obama White House. Her work with MEANS and beyond earned her recognition as one of L’Oreal Paris’s Women of Worth, a Glamour College Woman of the Year, an inaugural winner of the George H.W. Bush Point of Light Prize, and, in December 2018 at age 23, the youngest-ever CNN Heroes of the Year honoree. 

In late April, Belding delivered the Phillips Lecture on Integrity in Action to a packed Pendleton Hall. In addressing food insecurity in our nation, she emphasized myriad complex issues that lead to individuals and families going hungry and further delineated the staggering impact of Covid-19. 

Reminding students they are never too young to make a difference or act on a passion, Belding said, “Here are the things I wish somebody had told me: You are never alone in doing the work you may want to do, others want to do that work too, so find them because together you can do some pretty great things. And, you don't have to apologize for being young and good at what you do. And when you're really good at what you do, your age becomes irrelevant.” 

After being peppered with questions by students, Belding officially received the Integrity in Action Award from Head of School Charley Stillwell who said, “Think about being in eighth grade and being aware enough to identify a problem and being courageous enough to think that you can do something about it. And, then not that many years later to have touched the lives of millions of people and to have accomplished all that you have accomplished. It's our great honor to officially award you with our Integrity in Action Award. I can't thank you enough for sharing your story, inspiring all of us to try to make these kinds of differences ourselves.” 

Clearly connecting with the students, Belding received a standing ovation from the audience and was quickly flanked by a group of students who continued conversations with her after the program concluded.
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