Wayne Hills Student Dane Lysaght Builds New Website to Support Local Food Pantry

WAYNE, NJ, UNITED STATES, March 27, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Dane Lysaght, a junior at Wayne Hills High School, has designed and developed a new digital presence for the Wayne Interfaith Network (WIN) Food Pantry. The revamped website drives awareness and community support with an intuitive user experience, simplified site navigation, and mobile-responsiveness, making it easy for visitors to find donation, event, and volunteer information across all devices.

The WIN Food Pantry serves 188 local families, 120 seniors, and 74 children experiencing food insecurity. Upon discovering a Facebook request to update their website, Lysaght was eager to apply his love of technology to serve a vital community need.

In January 2023, he began the project with stakeholder interviews, meeting with the WIN Food Pantry President, Barbara Cohen, to gain a deeper understanding of the pantry’s goals. Armed with these insights, Lysaght developed a strategic plan, first designing the online experience and subsequently building it out. He researched design options and implemented SEO best practices to maximize website traffic and community engagement.

“Dane went above and beyond, not only incorporating our requests, but also moving us ten steps beyond our initial vision with his suggestions and creative, artistic approach,” said Cohen. “The new and vibrant website is easy to navigate, and Dane continues to support us with ongoing maintenance.”

For Lysaght, this project was deeply personal: “In my family, food is life. Mealtime is where we connect and have our most meaningful conversations. I can’t imagine families not being able to experience that togetherness, let alone not having enough to eat.”

As President of the Graphic Design Club at Wayne Hills, Lysaght is experienced in crafting websites from scratch. He first began coding at the age of seven, taking local classes, experimenting with the basics, and developing essential problem-solving skills. In high school, he honed his coding skills with classes in C#, JavaScript, and Java. Now an active member of the Computer Science Club, he works on development projects and discusses website trends with his peers. His background in coding and design equipped him with a strong technical foundation needed to execute this project.

“The most exciting part was being able to take my own creative approach,” Lysaght shared. “In my previous coding work, there wasn’t much room for creativity. But with this project, I was able to blend my technical skills with design, combining my talents to create something meaningful and impactful.”

Through this project, Lysaght gained valuable experience collaborating with key stakeholders, learning new front-end technologies, and managing a project from start to finish. His efforts have already made a difference—raising awareness of the pantry’s services, increasing donations, and improving communication with the community—earning him recognition in the local TAPinto publication.

Lysaght's work with the WIN Food Pantry underscored the severity of food insecurity in his community, inspiring him to support other food assistance programs. He is now volunteering his skills to build a website for the Breakfast Brigade, a youth-led, national initiative that collects and donates breakfast foods to those in need within local communities.

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About Dane Lysaght

Dane Lysaght is a highly accomplished student leader at Wayne Hills High School. He serves as President of the Graphic Design Club and is an active member of the National Honor Society and Computer Science Club. Consistently achieving high honor roll status, Dane plans to pursue a degree in computer science followed by an MBA, with the goal of leveraging his technical skills to create positive change in the world.

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Media Contact

Dane Lysaght
dane.lysaght@gmail.com