Two students at Bryant University are convinced there is a business market for social good and hope to capitalize on it.
Avery Hill, pictured above, left, of Westminster, Md., a junior, and Peter Davies, a sophomore from Portsmouth, N.H., are roommates who have co-founded CALO, an acronym for Community Activism Leadership Organization.
“We’ve lived through the tech bubble, the real estate bubble and now we’re entering into the social good [era],” Hill said.
CALO brings together activists and nonprofits, matching volunteers to service opportunities. There are about 200 volunteers connected to CALO at any given time, and the co-founders try to match them to a couple of service activities a week.
They got their idea in 2013 after finding limited community-service options at the college level, Hill said. At the end of April 2014, the two formed a limited liability company. They aren’t making money yet but hope to sell their services to businesses and other groups.
A March activity involved organizing 20 volunteers to make phone calls to people in danger of having utilities turned off in Pawtucket, Hill said.
CALO also has a water-bottle giveaway to promote green initiatives. •
