Entrepreneur features Shift My Gift, a southeastern Pennsylvania-based website on which people can donate money to charity rather than spending cash on material gifts.
After hiking through some of Nepal's poorest regions, Blair Souder returned to his Lincoln University, Pa., home just in time for Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiving retail frenzy. Although the people in Nepal had very little, they "were very connected and seemed to be living in happiness and peace, as far as I could see," Souder says. It was a stark contrast to the shopping craze that kicks off the December holiday season in the States.
"I began thinking it would be cool to have a place online where people could easily [transfer their gifts to benefit others] and also create a bit of a movement around it," Souder says. "It would help people reflect on themselves: How am I going to celebrate the next event in my life? Do I really need more gifts?" He told his brother Kirk about the idea and the two went to work building the site.
Original source: Entrepreneur
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