WHERE SURPLUS MEETS PURPOSE A HYPERLOCAL DONATION PLATFORM

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 13 Issue: 03 | Mar 2026 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

WHERE SURPLUS MEETS PURPOSE A HYPERLOCAL

DONATION PLATFORM

Mr S. Abishek1 , Althaf Arafath A2, Arun B3, Guru Prashath N4, Hari Bala Krishnan K 5

1Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu ,India

2Student, Computer Science and Engineering, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India

3Student, Computer Science and Engineering, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India

4Student, Computer Science and Engineering, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India

5Student, Computer Science and Engineering, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract - Relink is a localizedupcomingapplicationmeant to address the surging issue of surplus products in the trash heap. The system allows the users to register and log in safely, which ensures that every exchange is safe and authenticated. Users have an option of donating things by filling out a form. formulated form following a logging in that requests information. regarding the type, quantity of the item and condition. The "Receive" section is where other users or nongovernmental. such donated items can be seen and owned by organizations. according to their needs. Search filters of the site. improve the user experience and efficiency by helping the user to. locating certain items fast. ReLink's robust backend, based on Spring Boot and a PostgreSQL database, and its current frontend, which is made using HTML, Tailwind CSS, etc. JavaScript, ensures smooth storage, retrieval and data. secure authentication. by pairing donors with needy. the platform not only minimizes the amount of people and organizations. not only does it waste but encourages participation among the locals, social. accountability, and a solution that would scale and can be improved. in the future with such functions as analytics, gamification, and admin approvals.

1.INTRODUCTION

Inthemodernworldthatisrapidlymovingwesimplydonot havethemeanstoredicateproperlyso,muchoftheunused stuffwhichcanbeused,food,clothing,booksandfurniture amongothersjustrotinthetrashheapandcannotfindany efficientmeansofredistributioninthebusyworldtoday.In spite of the fact many organizations and individuals are ready to give all surplus goods, there is no reliable and united system, which would help to properly find new patronsandnon-governmentorganizations,1need.Thegap inspiredthedevelopmentofReLink,aweb-basedplatform that is hyperlocal, aimed to bridge the gap between the donorandtherecipient.

1.1 Historical Background

Theissuehasbeenthewastageofgoodsinthegarbagebin andparticularlyintheurbanareasoveranumberofyears. Informallyfood,clothing,booksandfurniturewerethrown away orgiven outandthisusuallycausedinefficiencyand misappropriation. Whereas, Feeding India, GiveIndia and ShareTheMealhadafocusonfoodassistance,localproduct salesordonationonthewebsitessuchasOLXandQuikrsold ordonatedlocalproductsviatechnology.There-allocationof apparels and furniture was supported by the help of such websitesasTurtleBagandGoodCycle.Most,notallofthem, werenotinfavorofdifferentkindsofitems,thelocalinterest, andtherightuserverification.

Toovercometheseproblems,ReLinkwascreatedtoprovide acentralizedandsecure,hyperlocalizedecosystem.Theuser cancreateanaccount,loginandmakedonationsandreceive donationswithinashorttime.ThesiteusedisHTMLtomake surethatitsoperationanddatasecurityissmooth.Tailwind CSS,JavaScript,SpringBootandPostgreSQLReLinkshares thewasteinaresponsiblewayandminimizesthequantityof wastebya mixtureofa wide range ofitemcategoriesand authentication. It is a contemporary activity of taking advantageofthemajorityresources.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

The idea of waste minimization through the assistance of redistributionhasbeenresearchedbyanumberofauthors andappliedtoa numberofdigital platforms.Althoughthe majority of the extant systems are designed to bridge between donors and recipients, the distance and scope of technology and targeted systems are highly likely to vary. BothShareTheMealandFeedingIndiaarefocusedonfood deliveryandreducinghunger,buttheiranalogslikeOLXand Quikrwillpossiblycontributetopurchasingandsellingused productsmostofall.Thoughthesesystemsreducewastage, theyhavethetendencyofhandlingspecificareas,andthey lack the holistic approach, which can be applied hence coveringalltypesofexcessresources.

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 13 Issue: 03 | Mar 2026 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

2.1 Meal Match-A food donation platform

Vishaal A. K. and Mahisha S. in their paper Meal Match: A Food donation platform (2025) will focus on minimizing foodwastebymatchingthedonorswiththeneedyandthe localNGOs.Thesitewillassistusersprimarilytogiveexcess foodthroughanonlinesystemwherethelevelofdonations iscalculatedandcollectionsareensuredinatimelymanner. Nevertheless,thesystemlaysemphasisonfooddonationsas opposedtootherneedssuchasclothing,books,orfurniture. It does not also have a high level of features such as user verification, gamification, and moderation of an administratortoavoidabuse.Also,thefunctionalityofthe platform in terms of personalization and interaction is relativelylow,soitisnotasversatileintermsofextensive usebycommunitiesasmorecomprehensivesystemssuchas ReLink.

3. LITERATURE REVIEW

Current Methodology Ten thousand meal matching, After Stars,andotherAI-basedfooddonationapplicationsarejust some of all the currently existing dining donation and managementsystemsutilizingstandardmethodswithlittle tonocoverage.Thetypicalissuesnotedare:

Restricted Item Scope Most platforms do not focus on any othertypesofthings,includingclothing,books,orfurniture, butsolelyfocusonfooddonations.

Weak User Verification This is usually the case where the donors and receivers are not checked which may lead to fraudorabuse.

MinimalHyperlocalMatchingInefficientredistributionand delays result from many systems' lack of fine-grained location-basedfiltering.

Absence of Interactive Features Current strategies barely everrelyongamification,rewards,orengagementtoolsin ordertomakeuserswillingtomakeregularcontributions. Limited Search & Filtering The usability reduces as a user cannotwellsearchandfilterobjectsbyseveralcategories.

SecurityIssues:Unauthorizedentryandmishandlingofdata is more probable on servers which do not go through stringentauthenticationprocess.

Inadequate Monitoring & Analytics Most of the systems provide the administrators with very minimal data with regardstodonations,claims,andmantraffic.

ProblemswithscalabilityScalabilitymayresultinproblems whereplatformsstruggletohandlealargeuserbaseorother categoriesofitemssimultaneously

3.1 Overview of Methodology

It was named ReLink and was effective web-based hyperlocalsystemwhichlinksdonorsandindividuals,nongovernmental or organizations with surplus goods (food, clothing,furnitureandbooks).Itsgreataimistominimize wastes and encourage the sharing of resources in an effectiveandsafemanner.TheapproachusedonReLinkis

themultilayermultilevelarchitecturesinceithashighlevel ofperformancescalabilityandmaintenance.Thethreemost importantelementsthatthesystembringstogetherinthe core are the database, frontend, and backend. Frontend is created with HTML, Tail Wind CSS and JavaScript, which makeitintuitive,interactiveandresponsive.TailwindCSS provides normal design system which is styled in contemporarymannerandJavaScriptisutilizedtovalidate the forms, update the content and communicate with the back-endAPI.Thebackendisimplementedbytheuseofthe Spring boot, which provides a reliable and high-speed environment on how to handle the API requests and businesslogic.

IthasatieredstructureCorebusinesslogic,includingthat requiredtoprocessdonations,toauthenticateaclaimandto handleuserinteractions,isfoundintheServiceLayer.Entity Layer:Itcontainsthemodelsofusers,DonationsandListing and provides consistency and order in the storage of the data..RepositoryLayercommunicateswiththedatabasevia JPA (Java Persistence API), which permits security and performanceCRUDoperations.ParallelTheControllerLayer respondstoincomingHTTPrequestsandforwardsthemto relevantservices.ReLinkemploysPostgeSQLandtheH2in the local development of database management. The database model is in normalized tables to store the information regarding the users, records of the donations andtherecordsofthecampaignsandsooneffectively.

4. IMPLEMENTATION

Theimplementationphaseaimsattransformingthedesign andmethodologyofReLinkintoanactualfullyfunctioning system.Thisstagewillinvolveimplementingtheplatformto be used in practice, ensuring safety of communication betweentheparts,andrelatingthefrontend,backend,and databaselayers.Thesystemwascreatedinamodularwayin ordertomakeitscalable,flexible,andeasytodebug.

4.1 Implementation of Frontend

A smooth experience on all devices is guaranteed by the frontend's responsive, clear, and user-friendly design. ElementsPagesforRegistrationandLogin Permitusersto registerandsafelylogin.Beforesubmitting,useJavaScript toimplementinputvalidation.

PageoftheDonationFormAllowscontributorstoenteritem information, including name, quantity, and category. Incorporates field validation to guarantee accurate data entryPageoftheReceiverShowsthemostrecentdonations that were obtained from the backend API. Items can be browsed and chosen by users according to location or category.SectionforSearchandFilteringEnablesusersto applydynamicJavaScriptfilterstorefineresults.improves user experience by using real-time search without page reloads. The History Page Shows every donation the user who is logged in has made in the past. Tailwind CSS:

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 13 Issue: 03 | Mar 2026 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Providesutilityclassesthatarepredesignedandfasterand more responsive to use in designing a UI. JavaScript: JavaScriptisusedtocontroltherenderingofthedata,API calls,anddynamiccontentupdates.FetchAPI:Fetchisasafe connectionbetweenthefrontendandbackend,whichmakes useofJWT.

4.2 Implementing the Backend

Thesystem'sbackend,whichhandlesdatamanagement, businesslogic,andsecurity,isitscentralcomponent.For improvedconcernseparation,itusesatieredarchitecture.

LayeroftheControllerManagesHTTPrequests,including thosefordonations,logins,andregistration.Endpointssuch as/register,/login,/donate,and/campaignsaremappedby each controller. Defines endpoints using annotations like @RestController,@PostMapping,and@GetMapping.

Layer of Services Carries out the primary business logic, such as managing donations, user registration, and authentication.Includesfunctionsforprocessingdonation entries, verifying user input, and communicating with repositories. Makes use of dependency injection to guarantee appropriate communication between the controllerandrepositorylayers(@Autowired).

Layer of Repositories Communicates with the database usingSpringDataJPA.InterfacesthatextendJpaRepository are used to handle CRUD operations. Data retrieval and manipulationareaccomplishedthroughannotationssuchas @RepositoryandJPAqueries(@Query).

LayerofEntitiesOutlinestheUser,Donation,andCampaign data models. @Entity, @Table, and @Column annotations areusedtomapobjectstorelationaltables.usesconstraints like @NotNull and @Email to guarantee data integrity. IntegrationofSecuritySecure,scalable,andstatelessaccess is guaranteed by JWT (JSON Web Token) authentication. Flow:Aftertheuserlogsin,aJWTisissued.Atokenhasbeen addedtotheheader.Everyrequestisvalidatedbytheserver. Prevents unwanted access and guarantees that only authenticatedusersareabletocarryoutdonation-related tasks.

4.3 Implementation of Databases

ConfiguringaDatabaseBecauseofitsin-memorynatureand quick testing speed, the H2 database is used for local development. Reliability and scalability are provided by PostgreSQL, which is used for production deployment. Switching between databases is achieved via application. properties.

Design of Entities ID, name, email, password, and role are amongtheattributesthatmakeupauserentity. Instruments ID, itemName, category, quantity, date, and userId are all included in the donation entity. Campaign Entity:UsesfieldslikegoalAmount,description,andtitleto managecampaigns.

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Thesystemperformance,functionalityandtheusabilityof the ReLink platform were verified by the successful implementationandtesting.Theresultsprovidethelevelof the collaboration between the database, frontend, and backendelements.Thebackendensurestheintegrityofthe data,itssecurity,aswellasitsefficientstorage,whereasthe interfaceissimple,responsive,andaccessibletoeveryone.

Inordertoensurethattheobjectivesoftheprojectinvolving thecomingtogetherofthedonorsandrecipientsthrougha web-based platform were achieved, every module was implemented,tested,andvalidated.

5.1 Registration Page Description:

Newusersareabletocreateanaccountwiththeregistration page byinsertingtheir name, mail address,password,and role (Donor or Receiver). To develop the frontend form, HTML,TailwindCSS,andJavaScriptareutilizedinorderto havearesponsivelayout.Theformusesinputvalidationto preventinaccurateormissingdata.WhenaPOSTrequestis submittedtothe/registerendpoint,whichisoperatedbythe SpringBootbackend,aPOSTrequestissent.

5.2 Login Page:

The login module issues a JWT token after the successful authenticationofauser.Thetokenisstoredandutilizedin any future API request on validated credentials. Error warningsarealsoactivatedbynon-viablecredentialsgiving theuserssecurityandclarity.

Volume: 13 Issue: 03 | Mar 2026 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Secureaccesscontrolisguaranteedbytheloginfeature. Thedonationorrecipientmodulesareonlyaccessibleto authenticatedusers.ThedependabilityofJWTtokens acrosssessionswasvalidatedthroughtesting.

5.3

Donation Page

Byprovidinginformationlikeitemtype,category,quantity, anddescription,userscancontributeexcessitemsthrough the donation form. JavaScript was used for form handling and Tailwind CSS for layout. Following submission, the information is POSTed to the /donate API endpoint. Annotationsareusedtovalidateinputfieldsonthefrontend andbackend.

Differentdatainputswereusedtotestthedonationprocess. Every submission was appropriately saved in the PostgreSQL database and retrieved via API queries. Duplicateorincompleteentriesareefficientlyfilteredoutby thesystem.

5.4 Receive Page

ReceivePageDescription:Allofthedonationsthatdonors have listed are shown in the "Receive" section. The /donationsGETendpointisusedtoretrievethedata. Items canbesearchedorfilteredbyusersaccordingtoavailability, location,orcategory.Detailsliketheitemname,category,

and donor details are included in every donation entry. DiscussionoftheResults:Sincethelistingsofdonationwere dynamic,theusershadaccesstothelatestitemsthatthey couldget.Thefiltersmadethebrowsingexperiencesmooth asthefiltersworkedwellanddidnotrequiremuchtimeto load

6. CONCLUSIONS

The purpose of the ReLink project was the creation of a hyperlocal platform of donation and redistribution that wouldconnectthedonorswiththepeopleororganizations requiringtheexcessofgoodssuchasfood,clothing,books, furniture. The project efficiently employs technology in bridgingtheneedandgenerositytopromotesocialwelfare and sustainability. The application is user-friendly and reliable in data management; and it combines a secure database,aninteractivefrontend,andarobustbackend.Due tothecombinationofSpringBoot,PostgreSQL,andTailwind CSS,ReLinkisamodernized,scalableandpowerfulplatform touseacrossareal-lifecommunity.

To guarantee safe, stateless user authentication, a comprehensiveloginandregistrationmodulewascreated utilizingJWT(JSONWebToken).Acomprehensivedonation formmakesitsimplefordonorstosendintheirgoods.Every entryisverifiedandsafelykeptinthedatabase.Receiving and Filtering System: To enhance discoverability and usability, the receive section enables users to peruse and filteravailabledonationsbylocationandcategory.Database Connectivity:Testinganddeploymentweremadeeasierand data handling was made seamless by the combination of PostgreSQL(production)andH2(development).

UserInterfaceResponsiveness:TheHTML,TailwindCSS,and JavaScriptfrontendprovidesauserfriendlyandresponsive interface.SystemSecurity:Toprotectuserprivacyandstop unwantedaccess,JWTauthentication,inputvalidation,and controller-levelaccesschecksareinplace.

Future Enhancements The following improvements are suggested in order to increase the system's scalability, usability,andcommunityimpact

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 13 Issue: 03 | Mar 2026 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Claim Feature Integration Provide users with the opportunity to claim instantly donors and automatically change the availability status. Admin Dashboard with Analytics: configure an administration dashboard to track donations, authenticate them, and generate information. PaymentGatewayIntegration:Theyaresafewhenitcomes topaymentprocessingandallowsalesofsurplusinventory at a very low cost. Send emails and SMS notifying users about successful donations, item receipts, or even new donations in the area. AI-Based Recommendation System: Withthehelp ofmachinelearningalgorithms,suggestthe suitabledonationtorecipients,dependingontheirprevious activityortaste.

REFERENCES

[1] AI-PoweredSolutionsforFoodWasteManagementand DonationSystems"bySharmaN.andYadavM.IJSREM (2024).

[2] WasteFoodManagementandDonationApp,"byPatelT, Shah V, and Mehta R. 2024: International Research JournalofModernizationinEngineeringTechnologyand Science(IRJMETS).

[3] FoodWasteinIndianHouseholds:StatusandPotential Solutions" by Iyer K. and Raj A. "Springer Journal of WasteManagementandResearch(IJSREM)"(2023).

[4] Singh A., & Kumar R. "A Platform for Real-Time Food RedistributionandDonation."IJSREM,theInternational Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management,2025.

[5] Gupta, R., and Kaur, S. (2023). "Cloud Computing and IoT-PoweredSmartWasteManagementSystem."Vol. 11,Issue5,pages1204–1210,InternationalJournalof InnovativeResearchinComputerandCommunication Engineering (IJIRCCE) explains how cloud and IoT technologiesimprovewastemanagementandtracking