PantryLink wins Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in New Jersey’s 12th District
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman has named Michael Yountz, Naisha Singh, Joshua Sambol, and Nupur Bhavsar of Montgomery High School, The Pennington School, and Hillsborough High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in New Jersey’s 12th District. Their app PantryLink helps people in need connect to food banks in their area and view their stocks.
When asked what inspired the creation of PantryLink, the students said, “When we were thinking about creating an app for the CAC, we learned about the difficult situation many food banks face in our area. After speaking with people involved with food pantries, we learned that it was difficult for these organizations to connect with people in need. We heard stories of people driving hours for a food bank when there were ones closer to them with the same resources, or that there was food being wasted sometimes because there was not enough awareness. These issues compelled us to create an app that would allow people to easily connect to their local food banks.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.