Jed JohnHope, a native of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and an MBA student at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, has established MercyCards, a program to help the homeless. JohnHope, a graduate of the University of Delaware with a degree in chemical engineering, observed that in this electronic age, fewer people are carrying cash and spare change and therefore are unable to help homeless people they come across in their daily lives. Other people are wary of giving the homeless cash, because they believe the money will be used for alcohol or drugs.
So JohnHope came up with the idea of MercyCards as part of a business plan competition in business school. The prepaid gift cards that can be purchased and given to the homeless. The cards can be used at restaurants or food stores.
More information on Mercy Cards can be found here.
Thanks for the story!
Congratulations Jed, on a great idea for a noble cause.
That’s a wonderful idea.
Great work! You are a true agent of change. I work at a college in North Carolina and have worked with several college students who are homeless, and have similar hardships. I commend you on your work.