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Business & Tech

Lake Forest High School Graduate Wants To Help The World One Penny At A Time

Former Lake Forest resident is launching a new philanthropic organization to aid in the relief of natural and man-made disasters.

Keep the change.

That’s what the Michael Greene wants consumers to say to local and national businesses once his WorldPennyJar concept becomes a reality.

The graduate had always planned on starting his own business.

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“I’ve always had a strong entrepreneurial spirit - it comes from my father and grandfather - and a desire to build something from the ground up," said Greene, who also graduated from . "But, more importantly, I have always had a strong desire to help people and protect our planet.”

As someone who has paid close attention to the destructive consequences that natural and man-made disasters have on humans and the environment, Greene realized that there was a need for immediate financial aid when tragedies, such as the February, 2010 earthquake that devastated the country of Haiti and the April, 2011 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico occur.

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After a year of brainstorming and seeking advice from family and friends, Greene created the WorldPennyJar - a charitable organization that could generate fast financial relief in the event of an emergency.

The concept is simple. Online and storefront businesses would allow consumers to round up their purchases; the change would go to WorldPennyJar. WorldPennyJar would then send 95 percent of the proceeds to carefully chosen non-profits, such as the Red Cross, to help disaster relief victims, and provide education and health care to the neediest.

“While each consumer’s contribution may be very small, when combined with millions of other consumer contributions from retail websites across the Internet, retail stores across the country and world, and monthly billing statements, that contribution would become unbelievably significant,” said Greene, the former director of operations at Greene Training International, Ltd.

Building a philanthropic organization that will rely on Internet and traditional businesses to promote the concept has been challenging.

“While I’ve been working on this project for quite some time, it has been a slow process.”

At the moment Greene is trying to raise public awareness, capital and attract “passionate advocates” to help get the business on board.

His business plan is to focus on local Chicago Internet retailers, retail stores, and companies that send out monthly bills, such as Walgreens, Discover Card, McDonalds, and Sears. Once he has recruited Chicago area businesses, he'll then work on national and international companies.

In the meantime, Greene has launched his campaign via the IndieGoGo website, which will help him to promote the idea of the WorldPennyJar and help him to raise money to build the organization.

“This WorldPennyJar IndieGoGo campaign is the first effort I have made to spread the word about the WorldPennyJar concept. Once I have actually partnered with some businesses to bring the concept to reality, then I will be doing much more to encourage the general public to participate,” said Greene.

Currently, WorldPennyJar is in its infancy and Greene is giving it 100 hundred percent of his attention. Aside from the gracious friends, family members, and former colleagues who continue to advise him throughout the process, he is working on building the organization on his own.

“The ultimate goal is to spread WorldPennyJar to as many businesses as possible in order to maximize the amount of funds available for disaster relief and other non-disaster humanitarian efforts,” said Greene.

To learn more about WorldPennyJar visit www.worldpennyjar.com

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