Successful student business puts Holy Angels girls in competition
Eighteen local students are on their way to Nigeria today to show a panel of judges how they sustained their business while making a global impact.
The students from Holy Angels Academy have successfully marketed a device that makes a simple drink of water possible in areas of the world where clean water is in short supply.
The girls are active in Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE), an international nonprofit organization that encourages youth business and social entrepreneurship.
The teens have been able to support individuals and families in places like the Congo and Myanmar with portable water filters, called LifeStraws, which originated in Denmark and are produced in Europe and elsewhere. They consist of a plastic tube with a straw-like tip, and include two filters that block out objects and bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella and typhoid.
“We’re supporting 47 families [with LifeStraws] in the Democratic Republic of Congo for three years,” said Katrina Eldridge, one of seven girls going to Nigeria.
The group donated $700 to the Project AXxes, which works on bringing supplies to the Congo. The organization bought the LifeStraws and has kept the money left over to replenish the purifiers when they expire.
This year, the group at Holy Angels decided to publish a book promoting their LifeStraw business venture.
“The Fresh Water River” was published using funds raised by the group from local businesses. The book was about a dirty river where animals lived and residents learned to use LifeStraws to get clean water.
The book was made using Blurb.com, which offers a free program to make a book and will publish it for a fee. The book costs an estimated $12 to make and was marked up to $15.
Profits from the book were used to purchase more Life-Straws.
The purifiers cost $4 each.
“It’s very cheap to save a life,” said member Cara Monaco.
After the cyclone disaster in Myanmar, the group helped send LifeStraws to the area by getting in touch with Convoy of Hope, a disaster relief organization.
“We gave them money and told them to buy LifeStraws and get them across the border,” Brian Carrier, the group’s business adviser, said.
Each year, SAGE holds competitions among schools to see which had the best business venture in the state. Each group must make a 15-minute presentation in front of judges about their venture and its impact. Those who place in the state competition move on to the nationals and then if they place again, the international competition, the SAGE World Cup.
Each year, the student groups must not only come up with a new business but maintain the ones previously created.
The group was faced with another business venture — getting themselves to the international competition.
The trip was to cost about $25,000 for the seven girls and the seven chaperones. At the end of June, Carrier estimated that about 60 percent of the funds had been raised.
They held fundraisers like a garage sale with donated items, at prices from 25 cents to $10 and including baskets, drills, books and even a TV.
The group also held a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s. They presold 300 tickets for the event and received $4 from each $5 ticket.
By the end of the two events, Carrier said they had earned enough money to pay for one round-trip airline ticket.
In nearly three weeks, they raised the remaining funds.
“We hit the $25,000 mark, but that’s just for airline tickets,” Carrier said, adding the target was met a week and a half ago.
