Our Story
Photo: Robin Pendergrast. Photo was taken of Nomad Alliance members Barbara Edwards and Douglas Kihm, CEO FreezeHunger lobbying at the Utah Capital for the homeless bill HB 499.
The FreezeHunger Story
“There’s a better way to feed the hungry.”
Douglas Kihm Founder, CEO
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How FreezeHunger was born.
While working with a nonprofit homeless advocacy group called Nomad Alliance and the Catholic Community Services in Salt Lake City, Utah, Douglas Kihm witnessed hundreds of hungry homeless people being turned away from full shelters and bare shelfed food pantries.
He learned that shelters and food pantries can’t accept the millions of pounds of nourishing food being thrown away at grocery stores because its “perishable”. Perishable food, including meat and vegetables, can spoil in a matter of days so the health dept. won’t allow stores to give the food away.
He was determined to find a solution.
FreezeHunger was born when five homeless, hungry people died.
Douglas witnessed the tragic, needless deaths of five homeless people in the streets of Salt Lake City, during the week of December 15 - 19, 2022.
The shelters were full, the food pantries bare and they froze to death.
The homeless people did not know where there were beds and food so they did not even try going to the shelter and had no way to ask for help.
We were all outraged. “How could this happen? Why aren’t there enough beds and food? Why can’t people find where beds and food are available?”
There had to be a better way to shelter and feed people.
Homeless people have or can get a free Govt., GPS enabled smart phone.
Douglas helped design an online web shelter bed locator for the Utah State Homeless Services. What was still missing was a way for anyone at anytime to locate available food at pantries and homeless shelters.
With the demand for food growing daily, available food in pantries and shelters can vary by the hour.
There is no centralized, online way to find where food is available. And many homeless people can’t travel to pickup the food, especially in the winter.
Douglas had an idea …
Create a software app that connects available food to the hungry.
“Let’s design a software app that connects grocery stores, shelters, pantries and the homeless with real time information where food is available”
He conceived of a software app where anyone at anytime could locate available food at food pantries and shelters.
Qualified rural homeless people could also request food be delivered via a GPS food delivery service such as Door Dash(tm) if they can’t travel there.
How can we save grocery food from being thrown away?
Next he wondered, how can we save food being thrown away by groceries?
He had a breakthrough moment when he learned about freeze dried food.
Freeze dried food lasts 20 years!
He learned that freeze drying food is simple, nutritious and tastes great!
Freeze drying leftover grocery store food would solve the problems of food spoilage, availability and accessibility!
A world changing idea was conceived.
“Let’s Freeze dry the leftover grocery store food pantries can’t accept and deliver the food via a GPS app to shelters, pantries and the homeless.”
FreezeHunger was born.
Photo of Salt Lake City winter homeless camps. Gephardt Daily Patrick Benedict
The Team
Douglas Kihm - Founder, CEO
Douglas Kihm is the founder and CEO of FreezeHunger. Over the past 42 years Douglas has founded and has been responsible for the successful technical and managerial leadership of three previous companies including Axonix Corp., Mozaex LLC and AUDEA Inc..
Douglas holds a B.S.E.E degree from the U. of U.. He studied at Northwestern University and at BYU’s graduate school. He is the author and holder of a rapid electronic prototyping patent and the author and co-owner of an AUDEA autonomous smart headphone patent.
Hundreds of thousands of Douglas’s products have been sold in 35 countries and have won numerous industry awards for innovation and quality. Mr. Kihm has gained the recognition by his contemporaries as a visionary, disruptive innovator, and a proven successful business owner in the professional commercial, military and consumer electronics industry.
Douglas has assembled a team of executive and operational managers, software and hardware engineers, supply chain, QC and production professionals who are unmatched in their field.
Lloyd Stewart - CFO
Lloyd worked with Douglas Kihm, CEO at AUDEA as it’s Chief Financial Officer. He was an investment banker with Smith Barney in New York and San Francisco, which later merged with Morgan Stanley. He was the founder and Chairman of Stewart-Reiss Laboratories, which was later sold to Sterling Medical, a public company.
He served as Chief Financial Officer for Thoratec Corporation, a manufacturer of electronic heart devices that had sales of $477 million in 2014 and a market cap of $2.2 billion.
Lloyd completed his Bachelor’s degree at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA and his MBA in Finance at the Harvard Business School, Boston, MA.
George F McHugh III - VP Operations
George has 35 years experience in executive operations management. George has held VP Operations and Director of Operations positions at several divisions of multi-billion dollar corporations including Pfizer HPG, Strato/Infusaid, Lilly, Advanced Cardiovascular and Abbott Labs/Sorenson Research. George has a broad skillset in operations, quality control, safety and regulatory management. He studied nuclear engineering at the U. of U..
Partnerships
We are forming partnerships with grocery stores, food banks, food pantries, hunger relief and homelessness advocacy groups plus government agencies and religious organizations.
Nomad Alliance, 2nd and 2nd Coalition and Volunteers of America Dec. 15 2022
Photo L to R: Douglas Kihm - CEO FreezeHunger, Nomad Alliance Member, Joshua Mellowseed - Nomad Alliance Member, Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, Kseniya Kniazeva - Dir. Nomad Alliance.
Food Pantries, Food Banks, Hunger Relief and Homeless Advocacy Groups
FOOD PANTRIES, FOOD BANKS
Community Action Services and Food Bank.
St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall
Crossroads Urban Center Food Pantry
HUNGER RELIEF AND HOMELESSNESS ADVOCACY GROUPS
The Faith and Advocacy Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness.
*A coalition that includes First United Methodist Church, Unsheltered Utah and Our Unsheltered Relatives (OURs).
Photo: Robin Pendergast (c) 2022. Kseniya Kniazeva - Dir. Nomad Alliance assisting a disabled homeless man.
“We have the technology, the people and the passion to change the world of hunger. With your contribution we can and we will suceed.”
— Douglas Kihm CEO, Founder FreezeHunger