The covid-19 pandemic surely brought about a variety of new and unexpected challenges, but it also worsened many already existing challenges even further. One of these challenges that was made worse by the pandemic was the issue of food insecurity. When many college campuses shut down in March of 2020, a group of college students from across the country sought to find a way to fight food insecurity and reduce food waste at the same time. Through their collaboration, they created the Farmlink Project.

The Farmlink Project connects farms with a surplus of fresh produce to communities facing food insecurity. On their website, they note, “The USDA estimates that 30-40 percent of the food supply in the United States goes to waste every year.” By decreasing the amount of food wasted every year, the Farmlink Project is also helping to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced. The Farmlink Project’s goal is to set up long-term infrastructure that connects agricultural and food access industries so that their work will eventually no longer be needed. The Farmlink Project receives produce through donations as well as unsold produce sourced by their student employees. After the produce is received, it is transported to foodbanks where it can be given to those in need. Since their start in 2020, The Farmlink Project has moved 47,820,342 pounds of food, prevented 40,907,240 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, and delivered 39,792,282 meals! The Farmlink Project largely relies on donations to sustain itself, but for every dollar donated, they are able to source 24 pounds of produce, which can provide 20 meals to families in need!

The Farmlink Project story is an inspiring tale of how a group of young adults saw a problem, and stepped up to solve it, even in an already stressful and difficult time. In fact, The Farmlink Project won the 2021 Congressional Medal of Honor Service Award for the impact they have created!

You can read more about The Farmlink Project at their website: https://www.farmlinkproject.org/

During a surf trip to Bali, Indonesia, in 2015, Alex Schulze and Andrew Cooper were inspired to create their company 4ocean. While in Bali, Alex and Andrew saw the severity of the ocean plastic crisis and how detrimental it is to marine animals as well as the surrounding communities. This really had an effect on them, and they decided that they wanted to act solve this problem. As a result they created 4ocean.

4ocean hires professional, full time captains and crews in areas of the world that are heavily affected by ocean pollution to recover this waste to be recycled into new products. 4ocean now has operations in the United States, Indonesia, Haiti, and Guatemala that clean plastic and waste out of oceans seven days a week. They have a One Pound Promise to pull one pound of trash from the ocean, rivers, and coastlines for every 4ocean product purchased. Since their start in 2017, 4ocean has recovered 18,564,049 lbs of trash out of ocean, rivers, and coastlines! After removing the plastic from the ocean, it is tracked, and sent to be recycled so it can be turned into 4ocean products such as bracelets, phone cases, jewelry, apparel, as well as other items. 4ocean also sells several reusable alternatives to many types of single-use plastics. Not only are 4ocean’s products reusable and sustainable, but they also raise awareness about the ocean plastic crisis and encourage people to end their reliance on single-use plastic.

Transparency and accountability are important features for 4ocean. In order to be certain that their products are completely made from the ocean plastic that they remove, they carefully document all the recovered trash at every step of the way. This ensures that every 4ocean purchase you make is guaranteed to be completely made from recycled ocean plastic that was retrieved by 4ocean employees!

In addition to selling recycled products from the plastic that they pull out of the oceans, 4ocean is also dedicated to educating consumers about the causes and impacts of plastic pollution. They also try to educate people about ways that they can help to clean up the oceans, and even plan beach cleanups and other similar events. 4ocean has also committed to dedicating at least 1% of their gross profits to environmental nonprofit organizations through their partnership with 1% for the Planet. Since 2017, they have donated more than one million dollars to ocean-friendly organizations that are working to create positive change for the environment!

4ocean is a perfect example of how the main aspect needed to solve a problem and make the world a better place is the determination and choice to act on that need!

You can check out more about 4ocean and their mission at their website: https://www.4ocean.com/

In 2012, two friends, Zachary and Brian, got the idea to start a business with a meaningful social impact while sitting in a college entrepreneurship class. They decided that the focus of their business would be to improve the lives of children battling cancer, and from here they created the popular beanie company Love Your Melon.

Zachary and Brian began with the simple goal of putting a hat on every child battling cancer in America- 45,000 hats total. For every hat purchased, Love Your Melon donates another hat to a child battling cancer in the US. Since 2012, Love Your Melon has given 222,333 beanies to kids facing pediatric cancer. 15,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year, and Love Your Melon strives to connect with all of them through their beanies.

As the business grew, Zachary and Brian also added the goal of supporting the fight against pediatric cancer by donating one million dollars to pediatric cancer research. Love Your Melon donates fifty percent of their net profit from the sale of all of their products to nonprofit organizations that support the fight against pediatric cancer. These organizations conduct research, create therapeutic experiences, and fund programming initiatives for children fighting cancer and their families. Since their start, Love Your Melon has donated $8,313,239 to a variety of nonprofits fighting to end childhood cancer, with over $1,250,000 dollars donated in 2020 alone.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2019, Zachary and Brian found a way to help solve the new and urgent need of face masks for the medical community, patients, and families across the U.S. Between the launch of their face masks and July 2020, Love Your Melon was able to donate 845,124 masks to the medical community through their Buy One Give One Program.

Clearly, Zachary and Brian’s idea for a class project that would create a social impact has turned into a very successful business. More importantly, Love Your Melon has created an even bigger impact in the lives of thousands of children battling pediatric cancer and their families!

Doughp, an edible cookie dough company, was founded in 2017 by Kelsey Moreira. After starting out selling her edible cookie dough on San Francisco’s Pier 39, she now sells her cookie dough on the famous Las Vegas Strip and ships nationwide. Before starting Doughp, Moreira worked in product marketing for 10 years. While working in product marketing, Moreira also struggled with alcoholism for several years but become sober in 2015! Moreira’s discovery of a great egg substitute for cookie dough while experimenting with baking led to the creation of her idea for Doughp! Kelsey quit her career to start Doughp full time in 2017 and has created a very successful edible cookie dough business since.

         Doughp is committed to creating delicious edible cookie dough while also reducing the stigma around mental health and addiction recovery. A portion of every sale is donated to SHE RECOVERS, a non-profit charity that helps support and connect women who are in or seeking recovery. They also try to use social media as a platform for unfiltered conversations about mental health to help reduce the stigma surrounding it.

Driven by her own experience with alcoholism and her love of baking, Kelsey Moreira has created a successful edible cookie dough business that has a positive social impact. Kelsey discovered a problem through her own experience and found a delicious way to help solve it!

Doughp is also innovative in its social impact. Not only does Doughp donate a portion of every sale to a non-profit organization that helps women through recovery, but they also use social media to openly discuss mental health in hopes of eliminating the stigma surrounding it. Given how widely used social media is today, I think it was a great idea to connect with their consumers through social media and a great way to bring awareness to mental health and addiction recovery.

Moreira’s story of the creation of Doughp is an inspiring reminder of how anybody can use their experiences, struggles, and passions and turn it into a successful business!

In 2017, Maya Mutalik met with an entrepreneur in Ghana who was using her expertise to teach young women in her community how to sew and achieve financial independence. Maya discovered that Vida, the entrepreneur and seamstress, wasn’t able to expand her business because she did not own an electric sewing machine. Upon further research, Maya learned that many seamstresses in developing countries are unable to grow their businesses due to lack of access to resources. This meeting inspired Maya to start her own fashion business that empowered women and honored artisanal garments from various cultures across the globe. This inspiration led to the creation of Hope Sews.

Hope Sews creates contemporary clothing made from artisanal fabrics from around the globe. The company partners with seamstresses in developing countries, such as Vida, to provide microfinance loans and training to expand their businesses and employ more seamstresses. This creates a sustainable ripple effect of training and employing seamstresses which provides them with financial stability. Hope Sews also works to educate young consumers on sustainable consumption of clothing and the importance of sustainable fashion and ethical production.

Maya’s decision to use her passion of fashion to create a positive social change in the industry is very inspiring. She noticed several problems regarding the use of exploitative labor and lack of sustainability in the industry and set out to offer a solution. Hope Sews is also innovative in the way that it supports women in developing countries. Rather than thinking about how she could help seamstresses on a small scale, she found a way to offer training and funding for resources so the seamstresses can expand their businesses and employ more women. This ripple effect continues to build on itself and benefits the surrounding community as a whole. Another aspect of Hope Sews that is innovative is its focus on sustainable development and the education of consumers on the ethical consumption of clothing.

You can read more about Maya’s inspiration and Hope Sews at: https://www.hopesews.com/

The idea for La La Land Kind Cafe was created after Francois Reihani, 25, learned about the statistics of what happens to foster youth after they age out of the system. After discovering these statistics, he created a program called the We Are One project in 2017 to mentor foster kids and help them find housing and jobs. His project was not as successful as he had hoped, and many of the kids were not able to maintain jobs because they lacked experience. Reihani wanted to find a solution to this problem, so he pivoted and formed the La La Land Kind Cafe. This cafe trains and employs foster youth after they age out of the system. First started in Texas, they now have three cafes total, with four more in development. Through the cafe, Reihani created an eight week internship program for the foster youth to learn life skills, on the job training, customer service training, mentorship, and an opportunity for a job in the cafe if they desire. In addition to helping foster youth find and be able to maintain jobs, the La La Land Kind Cafe has a mission to cultivate and spread kindness throughout the community. They also strive to be a model for other businesses to give back to the community and value the people in the business and surrounding community.

Francois Reihani’s unique way to to solve multiple different problems through one business is very unique and innovative. He is driven by finding a way to help foster youth find stable jobs and housing, which can clearly be seen through his creation of the We Are One project and the La La Land Kind Cafe. He is also passionate about spreading and encouraging kindness in the community and in other businesses.

The La La Land Kind Cafe’s business model is unique because they prioritize people over profits. Also, their motivation for opening more cafes is so that they can touch more people’s lives through acts of kindness and giving back to the community. Reihani’s creative way of solving two social problems in one business and his flexibility to pivot to improve his solutions and make them more effective are just some of the ways that he exhibits entrepreneurial traits.

It is inspiring how Reihani’s main mission is focused more on the social impact than the profit. Additionally,  it is inspiring how their program is designed to train foster kids with the skills and experience they need to sustain a job and continues to work with them through that process at each step. Instead of just finding a temporary solution by employing foster kids, the La La Land Kind Cafe provides the kids with the training they need to find a job in a field that they are passionate about. This extra effort is what makes the La La Land Kind Cafe unique and effective.

You can read more at: https://lalalandkindcafe.com/about/