When UF alumnus Eric Tilden decided working as an engineer wasn’t fulfilling him, he decided to launch an initiative to help local nonprofits through media.
“I love my job, but the day-to-day business side didn’t really completely fit me,” he said.
His friends kept pushing him to take action, he said, so he did.
On Monday, 27-year-old Tilden will kick off http://www.karmasapien.com, a website he founded that will raise money to help one local nonprofit per week.
For the entire week, T-shirts and other merchandise featuring the organization will be sold on the website. At the end of the week, the proceeds will be donated to the nonprofit.
The merchandise will be stylized with original graphic designs by Parisleaf Printing and Design that represent the values of the featured organization.
Chad Paris, Parisleaf’s owner, said the initiative has a good business model and energetic leadership.
The first featured nonprofit will be Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, an organization that travels with a team of tiny horses to comfort distressed people.
“People here want to see others to make it and achieve their goals, and KarmaSapien helps people do that,” Tilden said.
A version of this story ran on page 3 on 9/24/2013 under the headline "UF grad to promote local nonprofits"
