Move over, hunger

He set out to bring food to hungry people across the country. Now university alumnus Gavin Christiansen may see his nonprofit work expand exponentially and service more people than he initially imagined.

Christiansen is the co-founder and director of operations of Move for Hunger — one of five charities in the running to win a $1 million grant in the Chase American Giving Awards. The winner will be determined by Facebook voting, which began last Thursday and closed yesterday.

Move for Hunger partners with moving companies and moving truck drivers to take any non-perishable food customers donated to local food banks. The nonprofit formed in 2009 with one mover asking customers if they'd like to donate, and now the charity works with more than 200 movers and has donated 365,000 pounds of food to food banks nationwide.

Christiansen said winning the grant would enable the organization to expand its network of movers, perform more outreach and organize larger food drives. He said it may also bring him one step closer to his goal of donating more than one million pounds of food per year in the future.

"This would be absolutely huge for our organization," Christiansen said. "This [would be] bigger than anything we've gotten thus far. This [would] enable us to expand."

Christiansen said he was inspired to create Move for Hunger by his lifelong friend Adam Lowy, whose family has owned a moving company for 90 years.

"When I was little, I was on a moving truck, whether I wanted to or not," Lowy said. "During that time, I saw so much going to waste."

Christiansen and Lowy — now the organization's executive director — decided to do something productive with all the wasted food.

Although he never thought about running a nonprofit while he was in college, Christiansen said his experience as a marketing major helped him gain the mindset to run a successful organization.

"There are general things that apply that are either going to make you successful or not," he said. "We have to treat it like a growing business. You can't just ask for a handout and expect you're going to run that way."

Lowy said Christiansen's business perspective contributed to the organization's success.

"Gavin works well because he's very marketing minded, he thinks outside the box, and he gets things done," he said. "All of a sudden I had the perfect employee."

Lowy's family tried out the idea with its moving company for two years, and it was so successful that the friends decided to expand the organization. The charity now also organizes food drives.

"The movers do this out of the goodness of their hearts. It's an easy, simple way for them to give back to their community," Christiansen said.

Four other charities are up for the $1 million grant: Let's Get Ready, Inc., Matthew Shepard Foundation, To Write Love on Her Arms and Wish Upon a Hero Foundation.

The runner-up will be granted $500,000, third place will be granted $250,000 and fourth and fifth place will receive $125,000 each.

"It's just giving a bigger platform for those who are doing good in this world," Christiansen said of the award.

The Chase American Giving Awards air Saturday, Dec. 10 on NBC at 8 p.m.

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