Hani White

Co-Founder of Feed the Barrel + Economic-development professional in Asset Building, Business Development, and Nonprofit Management + Expert in Immigrant and Refugee populations.

Nomination:

Nominated by Jarrod Markman: She is one of the founders of Feed the Barrel, giving "used cooked oil a second chance."

About Hani:

Hani is an immigrant from Indonesia who came to the United States in 2001 to work for Walt Disney World. After that experience, she moved to Philadelphia. Nowadays, she calls Philly her first home, while Indonesia is her second home.

Hani is very involved with Philly’s Indonesian community. She explains that in 1998, there was great political and economic turmoil in Indonesia that caused many Indonesians to move. Given that Philadelphia was affordable and already had an established Indonesian community, it was a popular destination during this time. Since her immigration, she has helped educate her community, helping newcomers understand the systems in a new country. For example, she has educated people about financial literacy, which has allowed people to save money to buy housing. Many immigrants come to this country because of economic opportunity. She emphasizes that a lot of people come here with a lot of mental baggage, and those people really struggle and need a support system. 

Hani also founded Feed the Barrel, an amazing program that helps the environment via educating people about properly using their kitchen drain. The idea started with the desire to find a way to recycle the oil used in home cooking. When people deep fry, they use gallons of oil. Many people put that down the drain, which clogs it. The reason for this is that while immigrants know how to dispose of oil in their home countries, they may not know how to dispose of it properly here. She developed a system to recycle used cooking oil and educate her community about the issue.

Hani reminds us that “a good thing is that we can voice our opinions here”. We, as immigrants, could be that person making the decisions within the government. We, as immigrants, could be better to help make the decisions. Immigrants are willing to prove themselves. They came here to bring change for themselves, to their community, and to this country. Give immigrants the opportunity–open the door–and they will step in and make things happen.

Article by I Belong Philly. Created by Ben Goebel, Geórgia Consença and Cristina Zanoni.

Quotes from Hani:

"I didn’t come to this country just to become average. I need to really grow, excel, and be excellent." 

"Don't be scared. Don't be shy. It's better, even though you are scared. Just do it. It's better to do something wrong, instead of doing nothing." 

"We need geniuses, and everybody has their own genius. Why don't we let our genius shine? If everybody does their best, then everybody shines. I think that's a beautiful thing. Our community is going to be much better and much stronger for it."