Giving Tree

Turning surplus fruit into hope—connecting homeowners, volunteers, and charity to reduce waste and fight hunger.

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Inspiration

Many of us have passed by trees or backyards overflowing with fruit, only to see it left to rot. For us, the inspiration struck close to home—both of our own families have lemon trees that produce more fruit than we can use, with much of it sadly going to waste. This common problem sparked our mission to turn surplus produce into something meaningful and impactful.

What it does

Our platform connects homeowners and volunteers to collect excess produce, which is then sold to individuals who can make better use of it, reducing food waste and addressing hunger in our communities.

How we built it

We built the Giving Tree Marketplace to connect homeowners with fruit trees to people in need, reducing food waste. The site was designed to be user-friendly with a clean interface, featuring a simple product grid and easy navigation. Our focus was on creating a seamless experience for donors and buyers, using inviting colors and intuitive design elements. The goal was to make donating and purchasing fresh produce easy and impactful for the community.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was linking the marketplace, cart, and payment pages using JavaScript, as local data sometimes failed to save. Additionally, the large number of files and images slowed our site’s load times, making it difficult to implement quick changes and delaying updates.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re incredibly proud of the features we’ve built and the impact they can have. Despite the challenges, we successfully integrated a fully functional cart and payment system, enabling seamless transactions for both donors and customers. One of the standout features of our website is the intuitive volunteer sign-up system, which makes it easy for community members to get involved and help with collection efforts. Additionally, we created user-friendly forms for both donators and volunteers, allowing for smooth donations and participation. These features not only showcase the platform’s usability but also reflect our commitment to making food redistribution simple and accessible. With these key components in place, our website is ready to be used in the real world, driving tangible change in reducing food waste and alleviating hunger.

What we learned

This project taught us the immense power of community collaboration in tackling issues like food waste and hunger. We discovered that by connecting people and resources, even small actions can lead to significant, lasting change.

What's next for Giving Tree

Looking ahead, we plan to use AI to streamline connections between donators, volunteers, and customers, based on their availability and location. We’ll introduce a sorted marketplace that prioritizes produce with higher availability or shorter shelf lives. Additionally, AI will track user activity and send personalized email reminders when familiar fruits are in season, encouraging engagement and driving even more impact.

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