Boca Raton teen twins Jett and Luke Justin collected more than 10,000 pounds of cereal this season for Boca Helping Hands through their Cereal4All organization.
This donation will provide about 100,000 bowls of cereal to Helping Hands’ food bank clients.
The brothers, soon to be seniors at American Heritage School in Delray Beach, started Cereal4All almost a decade ago while volunteering with their parents to pack pantry bags at Boca Helping Hands.
Their inspiration took hold upon learning that several relatives depended on food banks for meals.
“We were curious about that piece of our family history,” Jett said.
When volunteering at a community dinner at the charity, the twins met families served by the food bank.
“There was a family with a boy around our same age. He was really friendly and loved Spider-Man just like we did. That had a major emotional impact on us. It connected the problem of food insecurity with kids just like us in our own city,” said Luke.
It was a powerful moment, Jett agreed.
“It made our work at the food bank way more urgent, and that’s when we noticed there were usually no breakfast donations to pack in the bags. Most of the time there was just an empty shelf, so the bags went without breakfast meals despite being on the packing list.”
Cereal4All began with bowls of Cheerios at the breakfast table
The brothers were brainstorming over bowls of Cheerios before heading out to Calusa Elementary when they conceived Cereal4All. Their aim: to fight food insecurity, a term that describes the uncertainty of where your next meal will come from or when people don’t have enough to eat.
“Those families depend on food banks to ease their hunger issues,” Luke said.
This year’s local food drive for Boca Helping Hands boasts participation from 20 Palm Beach County schools, including Florida Atlantic University.
And what started as a hyperlocal initiative now includes 80 schools and 70 food bank partners spanning 16 states with international presence in Toronto and the Bahamas.
Cereal4All also has numerous corporate partners including Publix, Walmart, Whole Foods, Wawa, Target and First Watch restaurants. The twins hope to attract attention from Disney and the Miami Dolphins (hint, hint.)
A big challenge expanding their nonprofit’s reach is time management; besides school, the brothers also helm Yamato Studios, a company that codes and builds video games.
Nonprofit provides over 655,000 bowls of cereal to those in need
Since 2016, Cereal4All has provided over 655,000 bowls of cereal to children and families facing food insecurity across America. That’s about 65,000 boxes of cereal or about $300,000 worth of breakfast food.
In a year when Boca Helping Hands is experiencing 40% less food donations for the 35,000 residents it helps, Executive Director Greg Hazle called the twins’ impact profound.
“Even at a young age, Luke and Jett decided that they were equipped enough to help solve a problem. The cereal drive is well-timed to mitigate the effect of this year’s deficit.”
Jett and Luke Justin were recognized for their work in 2024 by U.S. Congressman Jared Moskowitz. They also received official commendations from Boca Raton’s Mayor Scott Singer for their charitable work.
To donate to the drive, contact Suzan Javizian at suzan@bocahelpinghands.org or call 561-417-0913, ext. 204. To learn more about the Justin brothers and their organization, visit cereal4all.org.
This story was updated June 25 with an updated tally of 10,000 pounds of cereal collected from the twins’s original goal of 4,000 pounds. Fun fact: Luke still loves Cheerios but Jett prefers Lucky Charms.
Diana Biederman is the Post’s food and restaurant reporter. Connect via dbiederman@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boca twin brothers expand local food drive to 16 American cities with their cereal charity
Reporting by Diana Biederman, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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