"Young entrepreneurs use profits to help endangered orangutans" Palmetto Bay News, by Lee Stephens, August 19-25, 2003

Students pose at Parrot Jungle Island with check representing donation to help endangered orangutans.

Miami - Three groups of young entrepreneurs have joined forces to help endangered species. On August 4, 2003, a group of students gathered at Parrot Jungle Island, to present a check for $644.60 to Jungle Habitat, Inc. which will help support endangered orangutans. The donation is made even more special because the students have earned the money by operating their own businesses, selling products they have created.

The hard-working elementary and middle school students are participating in KidVentures, Inc. a nonprofit entrepreneurial program for children, now in its fifth year. Created by businesswoman and designer Alice Horn, the program’s vision is to bring the real world into the classroom. Students run an actual business, and are exposed to a wide range of business skills. They design their own logo, conduct market research, develop a line of products, set a fair price, and maintain income and expense ledgers.

Two of the youth-run businesses were located at the South Miami Parks and Recreation Summer Camp. Here, students named their businesses “Bookmarkz Paradise” and “B-N-G Productions”, and chose to design and produce bookmarks and greeting cards. Several students in these two groups were sponsored by Summer Fun for Kids, Inc.a charitable organization that serves the local foster children community.

The third business, a three-way partnership with Miami-Dade College’s School of Business at the Wolfson Campus and the Center for Community Involvement, was located at the Mattie Koonce Center for Learning and Technology. Students in this group named their business “Kids Greeting Cards.”

Community involvement is a big part of the of the KidVentures program. Students conduct business-to-business relationships with other entrepreneurs, in real business settings. As part of the curriculum, they hold regularly scheduled sales events at local banks, malls and corporations. This summer’s sales events took place at the Shops at Sunset Place, the 1st National Bank of South Miami, the South Florida Educational Credit Union, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival Cruise Lines. At the end of the program, they decide as a group, how they would like to spend their profits, often “giving back” to a cause of their choice.

This year, they chose to support endangered orangutans by contributing their profits to Jungle Habitat, a one-of-a-kind non-profit 501 ( c ) (3 ) corporation. Jungle Habitat services the South Florida community by offering educational programs and career development training programs in the areas of environmental and life sciences, botany and zoology. This mission will be achieved by collaborating with organizations that have similar goals.

For more information about KidVentures, please call 305-665-1141.

For more information about Jungle Habitat, Inc., please call 305-2-JUNGLE.