Tag: social enterprise

Andrew Glantz, BSBA’17, at 22 years old, is one of the youngest people named to the Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity’s 40 Under 40 list. With 163,538 members around the world, Glantz reports he is, “the third youngest to be included on the list that includes individuals such as the Co-Founder of Reddit and VPs at Lyft and UBS, and another WashU student – Sara Miller!”

Glantz is co-founder and CEO of GiftAMeal, a for-profit social enterprise that invites customers at participating restaurants to use the GiftAMeal mobile app to share photos of their meal. For each meal shared, a donation is made to a local food bank.

Jacob Mohrman (left) and Andrew Glantz.

“I am honored to represent WashU on the Alpha Kappa Psi list. After graduating Magna Cum Laude with the Joseph W. Towle Prize for greatest potential in organizational leadership, I am excited to announce that I will be remaining in St. Louis to work full-time on GiftAMeal.” Olin faculty, mentors, and St. Louis investors can share in the excitement when a home-grown startup remains in the city’s burgeoning entrepreneurial community to evolve and and expand.

GiftAMeal won multiple awards while Glantz was an undergrad including being named a “Top 3 Student Startup” in the country at the South by Southwest Conference. The company received its first investment of $100,000 from the Capital Innovators accelerator in St. Louis, marking the first time that the group had invested in an undergraduate startup.

GiftAMeal helps restaurants acquire and retain customers, while also feeding the hungry in our communities. To date, the company has provided 68,499 meals to those in need.

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Alpha Kappa Psi is a Professional Co-ed Business Fraternity founded in 1904 with the purpose of developing its’ members into principled business leaders. Originally founded by 4 men at New York University, the professional organization now has over 240,000 initiated members at 265 universities in 3 countries. Alpha Kappa Psi has grown to be the oldest and largest business fraternity in the world.

The GiftAMeal mobile app, conceived and launched by Olin junior Andrew Glantz one year ago, has reached another milestone as it continues to grow in popularity. Jacob Mohrmann, BSBA’16, Chief Marketing Officer of GiftAMeal, reports that the startup more than doubled its meal count since September, reaching a total of 15,000 meals donated to local food banks.

Each time a user of the GiftAMeal mobile app takes a photo of his or her food at a participating restaurant, a meal is provided to someone in need through a local food bank. Users may also recommend restaurants to friends and share photos on social media.

GiftAMeal is one of the featured businesses at Startup Connection, Nov. 16, at Olin Business School.

Mohrman and Glantz were featured in the 2016 Olin Business Magazine presenting their Elevator Pitch for GiftAMeal.

GiftAMeal is a for-profit social enterprise, charging a monthly fee to restaurants to participate and paying out donation to food banks to help provide meals to those in need. GiftAMeal has won multiple awards, including being named a “Top 3 Student Startup” in the country at the South by Southwest Conference. It received its first investment of $100,000 from the Capital Innovators accelerator in St. Louis, marking the first time that the group had invested in an undergraduate startup.

GiftAMeal helps restaurants acquire and retain customers, while also feeding the hungry in our communities.

Photos by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

Video courtesy of WashU Fuse

The Huffington Post reports on the St. Louis MetroMarket, “the Grocery Store on wheels that brings fresh food to low-income areas.” The bus, dubbed “Turnip1,” is stocked with fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy and bread from local farmers and community gardens.

Jeremy Goss and Colin Dowling sit behind the wheel of the donated Metro bus that was converted into St. Louis MetroMarket in 2015. Photo: Corey Mauer, St. Louis University.

“I would hate people to get lost in the novelty of what we do because we sell groceries on a bus,” said Jeremy Goss, a Saint Louis University medical student and one of the founders of MetroMarket. Co-founders include Washington University graduates Colin Dowling, PMBA’12 and Tej Azad, AB’12.
Link to article

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Andrew Glantz, BSBA’17, launched the FoodShare app Oct. 1 and had more than 50 restaurants signed up for his unique social enterprise that harnesses the power of social media to generate donations to fight hunger. FoodShare is kicking off the new year with news that fast food chain Jimmy John’s will participate in their program.

Jimmy John’s, a sandwich shop with over 2,000 nationwide locations, has partnered with FoodShare in the St. Louis region with six of its franchise locations signed up so far. Glantz said in a news release, “This marks the first chain restaurant on the app, and signals that FoodShare is gaining momentum.”

“We are extremely happy to partner with FoodShare to help feed the hungry in St. Louis,” said Jana Franklin, owner of the six local Jimmy John’s locations that have joined FoodShare. “FoodShare’s unique platform enables our customers to easily help those in need in our own community.

The FoodShare iPhone Application helps St. Louis locals discover and recommend restaurants, while transforming restaurants into social enterprises. Every time a user dines at a FoodShare partnered restaurant, FoodShare donates a meal to someone in need through Operation Food Search. To date, over 60 restaurants have joined and 1,500 meals have been donated.

Join the movement to fight hunger in St. Louis. Download FoodShare on the App Store and FoodShare will donate a meal to celebrate your support.

Links to previous blog posts about FoodShare.