Annual Report 2026 — Year One
First full year of Megabyte Labs Mission — formed mid-2025, operational at scale 2026. This report covers fiscal year 2026 (Jan 1 – Dec 31). Numbers update monthly as the year unfolds and lock at year-end audit.
Letter from the founder
Brian Zalewski here. Year one was about showing up — at St. John's every weekend, in the spreadsheets every night, on the IRS forms every quarter. We rebuilt the soup-kitchen ops stack on Cloudflare, piloted the AI Translation Hotline, and laid foundations for the Dignity Dining Hall scheduled for 2027.
The 100% pass-through promise held: every dollar designated for a program reached that program. I drew $0 in salary. The board drew $0. Square fees are absorbed by Megabyte Labs (the for-profit), which is what made the math work.
By the numbers (mid-year through 2026-05-11)
10,127
Meals served at St. John's Soup Kitchen
500+
Volunteer hours logged across all programs
4
Active or pilot programs operational
$0
Founder + board compensation drawn
Program highlights
- Soup Kitchen Ops Dashboard — operational since 2025-09. Logging meals + volunteer hours daily.
- AI Translation Hotline — pilot live 2026-02. Spanish, English, Haitian Creole. $0.20/call vs $60/hr human.
- STEM Workshops — planning. First Newark public-schools pilot scheduled Fall 2026.
- Presidential Dignity Dining Hall — planning. Q1 2027 pilot at St. John's annex.
What's next (2027 roadmap)
- IRS EIN clearance + first Form 990 filing
- Dignity Dining Hall pilot launch
- STEM Workshops semester run with Newark Public Schools
- Translation Hotline expansion to Portuguese
- Audited financial statements (independent CPA)