From Bakery Shelves to Community Tables
Knead LA
Our Mission
Every day, bakeries are left with perfectly good bread, bagels, and pastries. Too often, those fresh products end up in the trash.
At the same time, food pantries, shelters, and not-for-profits are working hard to help people facing food insecurity.
KneadLA bridges that gap.
We rescue surplus baked goods and deliver them to organizations serving communities in need, making sure good food reaches people instead of landfills.
Our Partners
198,504
Baked Goods Delivered
32,967
Pounds Rescued
15,000+
People Served
How We Got Here
In 2025, we started helping move extra bagels and bread from local bakeries to organizations that could use them.
When we took over KneadLA, as its founders graduated, we saw how much good the organization was already doing. We also saw opportunities to help more bakeries donate, recruit more drivers, and get more food to organizations that needed it.
We have rescued 40,000 pounds of baked goods since our founding by volunteers, food that would have gone to waste.
Our LA Partners
Bakeries
- 1Homeboy Bakery
- 2Puritan Bakery
- 3Western Bagel Encino
- 4Western Bagel Woodland Hills
- 5Western Bagel Burbank
- 6Cake Monkey Bakery
- 7Giuliano's Delicatessen
Nonprofits
- 1The Midnight Mission
- 2Union Rescue Mission
- 3LA Mission
- 4Hollywood Food Coalition
- 5North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry
- 6St. Patrick's Catholic Church
Our Cincinnati Partners
Bakeries
- 1Einstein Bros. Bagels Madeira
- 2Einstein Bros. Bagels Columbia Pkwy
- 3Einstein Bros. Bagels Blue Ash
Nonprofits
- 1Shelterhouse David & Rebecca Barron Center for Men
- 2Shelterhouse Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women
- 3Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen & Social Center
10
Bakeries
9
Nonprofits
20
Drivers
Watch
See KneadLA in Action
The Problem We Solved
Building a Better System
Over the past six months, we've focused on making it easier to rescue more food and get it where it needs to go.
Before, every donation required phone calls between bakeries, volunteer drivers and non-profit partners. Coordinating a single pickup often took more time than transporting the food itself.
After spending way too much time making phone calls to coordinate a single pickup, we realized there had to be a better way.
So we built one.
Technology
The KneadLA Web App
The idea came during a pickup from Western Bagel (thanks Western!)
After spending far too much time coordinating a single donation, we asked ourselves:
Could technology help us rescue more food and serve more people?
The answer was yes.
So we built a web app that automatically connects bakeries, nonprofits, and volunteer drivers.
How it works:
01
Bakeries post available surplus food and pickup times.
02
Nonprofits indicate what they can accept and when they need it.
03
Volunteer drivers share when they're available.
04
The app automatically matches all three.
Less time coordinating. More food delivered. Less waste. More impact.
Our Drivers
Growing Our Volunteer Network
30
volunteers signed up in Culver City
20
active drivers today
This year, we recruited 30 new drivers at the Culver City high school job fair, introducing students to an opportunity to help people in surrounding communities.
We also continue supporting our current team of 20 drivers, as we grow.
Advisors & Legal Partners
Building an Advisory Team
As KneadLA has grown, we've been lucky to learn from leaders who have spent years building organizations that serve their communities. They help us think through everything from growth and sustainability to legal questions and how to stay focused on our mission.
We're grateful for the guidance of:
Paul Hastings LLP
Pro Bono Legal Partner
Pro bono legal support that helps us navigate the legal side of operating and growing a nonprofit.
Rick Nahmias
Consulting Partner · Food Forward
Founder and CEO of Food Forward who noticed fruit on neighborhood trees going to waste and has since rescued and redistributed 500+ million pounds of produce.
Steve LePore
Non-Profit Consultant · Community Leader
Non-profit consultant and community leader who successfully built and managed a volunteer-led meal program.
Expansion
Expanding to New Communities
Cincinnati Launches in 2026
KneadLA's first expansion opened in Cincinnati, led by Chase Klugo and Jacob Peerless on the ground.
Through a partnership with Einstein Bros. Bagels, the Cincinnati team rescues surplus baked goods and delivers them to local organizations serving families and individuals in need.
Funding
Securing Funding for the Next Stage of Growth
To expand our reach and increase the number of donations, KneadLA secured funding from organizations that believe in our mission.
Funding Highlights:
$120,000
annual
Pitched and awarded a $120,000 annual Google Ad Grant
$1,500
grant
Pitched and received a $1,500 grant from The Change Reaction
$4,000
grant
Earned a $4,000 grant from the Harvard-Westlake Venture Fund
These grants help us reach more bakeries, connect more drivers, and rescue more food.
Community & Press
Expanding Awareness
KneadLA grows because of someone saying yes.
- A bakery willing to donate.
- A driver willing to help.
- An organization ready to receive food.
Together, those yeses keep good food moving and help strengthen our communities.
USC Daily Trojan article
“It's all with the one goal in mind of being able to help more people. If these individuals are able to have all the meals that they need, then our job is complete.”
“We want to become the tool that helps nonprofits essentially be as efficient as possible. Instead of focusing on the driving aspect, [nonprofits can focus on] the good of actually handing out and preparing meals for people who need them.”
The Team
Chase Klugo
Co-CEO & Co-Head of Cincinnati Operations
Chase Klugo is a senior at Harvard-Westlake School with a deep commitment to community service and impact. A driving force behind the growth of KneadLA, he led the organization’s first expansion into Cincinnati, bringing the same food rescue model he helped build in Los Angeles to the city he grew up in. Recognizing the inefficiencies in how pickups and deliveries were being coordinated, Chase also led the development of KneadLA’s custom dispatch platform and built the KneadLA website from the ground up. Whether building technology or expanding into new cities, he has demonstrated a consistent ability to identify what is needed and move quickly to address it. His work has helped ensure that KneadLA’s mission touches the lives of as many people as possible.
Zack Figlin
Co-CEO
Zack Figlin is a senior at Harvard-Westlake School who is passionate about supporting the communities he serves. Through his work with Knead, he has been a proponent in expanding the network of volunteers, bakeries, and food shelters in the organization. Zack helped establish the Knead Club at Harvard-Westlake, creating an ongoing partnership between the school community and the nonprofit. His initiative and commitment to service have helped propel Knead forward while inspiring others to become active participants in creating meaningful change.
Peter Shabani
Driver Coordinator
Peter Shabani attends Beverly Hills High School and is dedicated to helping Knead continue to grow and thrive. He loves seeing firsthand the changes that Knead has on the community, helping with Los Angeles food insecurity. He believes that small acts of service, when done across a community, can have a powerful and lasting impact. Peter is dedicated to continuing to expand Knead and working to reach as many people as possible. He hopes to use his community outreach to inspire others in wanting to make a change.
Max Coleman
Founder
Max Coleman is a freshman at NYU with a long-standing interest in public health and service. He started KneadLA as a junior at Harvard-Westlake School, and from a young age, he’s looked for ways to support people in his community. His work with KneadLA has deepened his understanding of how something as simple as access to food can impact a person’s health, dignity, and sense of belonging, as well as his desire to inspire and achieve social change.
Nikhil Sarvaiya
Founder
Nikhil Sarvaiya is a freshman at Stanford who started working on KneadLA when he was a junior at Harvard-Westlake School. He has long been passionate about addressing homelessness and food insecurity, driven by a deep commitment to making a difference in his community. He believes that every individual, regardless of their background, deserves access to nourishment and dignity. Nikhil is dedicated to utilizing Knead as a vehicle to support those in need and foster a more inclusive, compassionate community with a focus on building lasting, positive change.
Jacob Peerless
Co-Head of Cincinnati Operations
Jacob Peerless is a rising senior in high school with a passion for service, leadership, and creating meaningful change in his community. As the founder of Knead Cincinnati, he works with local bakeries to rescue surplus food and deliver it to people experiencing food insecurity, helping reduce waste while supporting those in need. Through his commitment to community impact and problem-solving, Jacob strives to make a lasting difference both locally and beyond.
Get Involved
JOIN US
If you are a bakery with surplus baked goods, a nonprofit or shelter in need of support, or a volunteer looking to make a difference, we'd love to connect.
Join us in helping fresh baked goods reach community tables instead of landfills.
Contact:
info@kneadla.org