Meet Ryan
“We are young; we're willing to step into, like, darkness. We're willing to bring light. We are really like the light that enters into a dark room. “
I first met Ryan Radwan at Downtown's Stuyvesant High School. We sat on the steps behind the school overlooking the Hudson as I spoke with him and Will Nzeuton, the president of their food recovery club at Stuyvesant. Ryan was, as much as virtually all of the young people I've spoken to, a thinker, an empath, an optimist.
It was an exhilarating talk.
Fact is, a movement has been blossoming here in New York among our young people which has been nothing short of mesmerizing! For me, while creating these Grassroots Groceries posts, I've spoken to an even dozen young leaders. In today’s world, it feels as if I've come across something different and magical: it's like a whirlwind of positivity and connection.
It's about food... and much more.
It's about food—food from school cafeterias and beyond—making its way through hour-long subway journeys to reach neighborhoods miles away.
But it's about a whole lot more. Today, I’m going to let Ryan Radwan speak to that “more.”
Here is some of our conversation:
Life in the city
In Queens, in the neighborhood where I live, Sunnyside, there's a lot of people who are living under the subway. There's a lot of people in the neighborhood next to us, Elmhurst, that just don't have anywhere to go. They're like sitting on the street with their kids. I see that many of them don't have enough food to eat.
But being young we are ready to change this.
On being young and making a difference
I feel that one of the things about students in NYC is that we're willing to explore the unknown.
We're willing to step into, like, darkness. We're willing to bring light to that. We are really like the light that enters into a dark room. We're willing to…we embrace that darkness.
We want to be able to explore the things that nobody has before. We're willing to adventure.
On meeting Grassroots Grocery
Ryan and Will Nzeuton after a food recovery .
I was so excited when Will approached me about Grassroots Grocery. (Will Nzeuton and his brother Skai first founded the food recovery club at Stuyvesant–editor).
I was like, oh my God, this is the solution. This is what I've been looking for. It’s within my capabilities. It's something that any high school student can do if they dedicate themselves to it and give the commitment that's required of it.
It can really show how much you care about the community.
It's basically like a gateway where you're the key. There’s the lock. If you open it, it leads to success. And it leads to a better community. That’s the goal.
That's one of the benefits of being youthful. That's what brings us excitement. We like the way we meet new people in our city, because obviously (this city) is so big. The movement…it's definitely an experience.
Being able to access something like Grassroots as a student is really meaningful to me.
On what we do
This is how it works at our school.
At the end of that week we get all the food that's stored in a fridge at school. We bring it out, and then we store it inside bags, and then we deliver it to one of the Grassroots’ community free food fridges.
And there's obviously a lot of food left after a week. Each of those bags is almost 50 to 60 pounds. So the biggest challenge is carrying it down! Bringing it across our entire school and carrying it to the train.
But other than that, it's an amazing process. We get to know all the cafeteria people. We get to see what happens behind the scenes of a DOE cafeteria.
It really helped us get to know the people that work at our school better.
We've been able to meet a lot of people on the way. We've been able to connect with many people who have been suffering from food insecurity throughout the city.
Meeting people at the fridge
Some people at the Fridge wanted to take more than they should have because they found it was good food.
But that's something that we enjoyed actually, because seeing that made us feel like we actually were making a difference. We were bringing the type of food that people were looking for inside a community.
That’s what we want to achieve through our club, that's the kind of community we want to build, one where like people are able to meet all their needs and for their family.
There are people who don’t know English or aren't that fluent in the language. But through gestures you can communicate: how do I share? Thank you. Those gestures speak for themselves. Body language is a type of communication that we use.
I remember one of the managers at a public housing, I think he was a Vietnam veteran. He came out, he came out to meet us. He told us how much of an amazing job we were doing.
About my father
My biggest influence? I'd have to say my father.
He works every day as part of the HPD to ensure that all these houses are safe. They're running properly. Boiler systems, heating systems, electric systems. He makes sure that all of those are in check, even outside of working hours.
He's at home and he's receiving calls. He's making calls.
He is probably my biggest inspiration. Even when he's not being asked to do something, even when he's not even getting paid for it, he's still out there making calls. He's still out there worrying about others’ safety.
My father serves as that kind of inspiration. The fact that he's so nice to me, even after all that, it's just like a huge bonus. We're like, a really close family. I think that's a huge, huge thing that I'm thankful for and the kind of person I want to be when I grow up.
Will Nzeuton
I wanted to be sure you heard this. Will, with his brother Skai, founded our club. Will is extraordinary. He works tirelessly to ensure that the club is functioning well. He maintains all the connections with the cafeteria staff.
He's out there. He's always being the leader that everyone looks up to. Will is, he is one of a kind of a person.
That’s my talk with Ryan. I can only say: join this movement! It's a song of passion and purpose, weaving through the streets of New York. These young people are making something special, and it's impossible not to be swept up in the awe of it.