Gatorworks client, The Give Project, was recently featured in the LSU Daily Reveille:
Imagine a magical place where everything – from textbooks to furniture, music lessons to tutoring sessions – is free.
Believe it or not, this college student playground really does exist and was created by a University alumnus.
TheGiveProject.com is a website that uses social networks to exponentiate social responsibility through the acts of giving and receiving. Virtually anything can be found or donated with the click of a button.
All users have to do is visit the website, post a need or gift and wait for The Give Project to work its magic.
Chase Brumfield, founder of the project, said its focus is to connect people.
“Basically it’s leveraging human nature through technology,” he said. “We’re connecting people through social networks to give them the opportunity to realize that people are worth giving to.”
Brumfield said the idea for The Give Project came to him in a search to incorporate his passion for people into his future.
“I would sit in class and see that instead of taking notes on their computers and listening to the professors, everyone was on Facebook,” he said. “So I thought that we’re already connecting this way, why not take that and connect not just socially but socially responsibly, as well?”
There is no downside to participating, Brumfield said.
“It’s a hell of a way to give and receive free stuff,” he said.
The Give Project is especially beneficial to students because they are among the most transitional members of society, Brumfield said.
“College students are always moving from dorm to apartment and things like that, so they have potentially more to give,” he said. “Like a couch from their apartment they don’t want – they can give it to somebody who can use it, someone who was in their position before.”
Eric Hernandez, the website’s manager, said The Give Project connects the needs and gifts of its users to Facebook.
“You go on the site, make a listing for it, click on the Facebook link, and it notifies all your friends you’re giving,” he said. “And it works the opposite way, too.”
The Give Project makes it easy for anyone who wants to make a difference, Hernandez said.
“A lot of people don’t have time to go to soup kitchen or visit hospitals,” he said. “The reality of The Give Project is simple. It’s people with real needs, big and small. We’ve got everything from free guitar lessons to the opportunity to help a family whose house burned down.”
Jessika Chaconas, McNeese State University junior, recently donated Xbox games and received a free photography session in return.
“I was just about to pay to have headshots taken for my résumé and to compete in [the Miss Louisiana Pageant], so it literally worked out perfectly,” she said.
The Give Project is infinitely accommodating to students, Chaconas said.
“It’s so helpful. People have been posting books on there,” she said. “Students need simple things that they might not have the means to attain, and The Give Project helps you to post and receive those things.”
Meredith Stevens, English sophomore, said though some people might take wrongful advantage of The Give Project’s “free everything” system, it’s a brilliant concept.
“I wish that I could say I didn’t think that our generation would take advantage of it, but I feel like we will,” she said. “But, when it comes down to it, it’s just a bunch of people trying to help other people out, and that’s pretty awesome if you ask me.”
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Contact Cathryn Core at [email protected]
Link to original article: http://www.lsureveille.com/entertainment/website-offers-alternative-trading-1.2349021