zero percent

When Rajesh Karmani, 31, moved to America eight years ago, he thought he would never have to see impoverishment again.

“I come from a remote desert area in Pakistan, so I have seen poverty and hunger,” said Karmani. “When I came to America, I thought I had left it behind.”

Unfortunately, he was wrong. 

But, Karmani, who received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Illinois, was ready to do something about it.

"Zero Percent began as a project to solve a problem,” said Karmani, who founded the start-up after being inspired by the book, American Wasteland. “I thought to myself, ‘How the heck could we waste $22 billion worth of good food in America, when 1-in-6 people face hunger each year?’”  

Zero Percent is on online food donation marketplace that helps businesses move surplus, edible food to nearby soup kitchens and shelters. Their goal is to reduce both hunger and waste. 

Or, as Caleb Phillips, Zero Percent’s Chief Technology Officer puts it, “We rescue beautiful food, deliver it to folks who really need it, and in doing so, prevent it from going to a landfill instead.”

Phillips, 29, who also has his PhD in Computer Science, met Karmani, Zero Percent’s Founder & CEO, over email.

After a year of emails and phone calls, Phillips and Karmani decided to work together using their complex problem solving skills to create a scalable solution to Chicago’s food waste problem. 

Photo Credit: Zero Percent Facebook

Their hard work did not go unnoticed. 

Impact Engine, an accelerator program that supports businesses that have a societal and environmental impact, wanted to join forces with Zero Percent.

“We had the offer to join Impact Engine and I was like, ‘holy shit,’” said Karmani, who has been couch surfing at friends or staying at hostels since the company relocated to Chicago in September 2013.

Now, working out of Merchandise Mart in River North, Zero Percent has already made a name for itself in Chicago.

Well-known players like: Hannah’s Bretzel, The Goddess and Grocer and Dimo’s Pizza are some of the restaurants who have already teamed up with Zero Percent to arrange food donations.

“We work with non-profit shelters, soup kitchens and pantries – they’re the ones who receive these food donations,” said Phillips, who reaches out to organizations and companies the old fashioned way, by making cold calls or by walk-ins.

After seeing much success within their first four months of being in Chicago, Phillips, has high hopes for Zero Percent.

“In the short term, maybe we'll just save all the food in Chicago,” said Phillips. “After that, maybe the rest of the world too.”

flower power

The phrase "two guys opened a floral shop" sounds like the punch line to a bad joke.

But helping low-income students in Chicago is a serious mission for entrepreneurs Steven Dyme, 22, of Wilmette, and Joseph Dickstein, 23, of Chicago's West Loop.

The recent college graduates co-founded socially conscious floral service Flowers for Dreams, based out of Evanston, and have made it their goal to give back to the community.

"We're trying to help bridge this educational gap in low-income schools, which is so important in trying to build this nation and to help in any way possible," said Dickstein, the co-founder and Chicago manager of Flowers for Dreams. "There are all these companies that are doing good for Africa, and no question that they need help and it's great that they're doing that, but we should focus on helping our own community of Chicago."

Joseph Dickstein (left) and Steven Dyme (right) 

Flowers for Dreams does that by donating a backpack full of school supplies to a Chicago Public Schools student in need for every bouquet the company sells. That equals about 5,000 backpacks since the business opened last year.

"I didn't really gauge how impactful this could be," said Flowers for Dreams founder and CEO Dyme, who was introduced to the floral industry by a college roommate. "We are currently the second--alongside with our non-profit partner Supplies for Dreams--the second largest pro-bono supplier of backpacks and school supplies to Chicago Public Schools following Staples."

Flowers for Dreams' one-for-one business approach and new age business model are the reasons why the college graduates who majored in communications, Dickstein, and political science, Dyme, have been so successful as a startup company.

"We're bridging the gap between that mom-and-pop floral shop and that 1-800-Flowers because we're online, but we're local," said Dickstein, who attended New Trier High School with Dyme.

All of Flowers for Dreams' flowers are organic-sourced, fresh-cut and are arranged by floral designers. However, it isn't unusual to see Dyme and Dickstein pitching in to help create the floral arrangements.

Flowers for Dreams floral arrangements 

"I'm a pretty fast-paced guy and being able to set aside some time to really arrange and design flowers is the thing I probably get the most joy out of. It's calming and it's zen to some extent. It makes me take a deep breath," said Dyme, who had a floral fellowship in Boston where he gained experience and knowledge of the industry and graduated from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2011.

Each arrangement comes with a personalized card and note about the charity's mission.

"Flowers for Dreams is a tangible way to help someone," said Dickstein, who graduated from Indiana University in 2012. "We invite all of our clients and customers out to our Build-A-Backpack Day, and they can actually stuff the backpack that will be donated on behalf of their purchase, which is cool."

Flowers for Dreams and their non-profit partner organization, Supplies for Dreams, coordinate the annual Build-A-Backpack Day.

"Build-A-Backpack Day is a community event where we bring all of our volunteers who have been able to help in the past along with our monetary supporters, and this is where we assemble the backpacks," said Hiro Kawashima, 22, the board president and co-founder of Supplies for Dreams. "It's a really cool event because it's a chance for the community to come out and contribute."    

Build-A-Backpack Day takes place in August at Northwestern University and is open to the public.

A sea of donated backpacks

"Going into our communities and seeing what our students are getting makes us feel really good, and hopefully the customers are seeing some of the benefits of that as well--the feeling that they are giving to something much greater by purchasing a bouquet," said Kawashima, a Northwestern graduate.

"It's an amazing day. Build-A-Backpack Day is no question my favorite day of the year," Dickstein said.

Although Dyme and Dickstein have little downtime for themselves as they run the company, neither have any regrets.

"I just love what I do, which is starting a business. I wake up every morning energized even though it's 5 o'clock in the morning and I love meeting people," Dickstein said. "I love trying to build something."

Dyme agreed.

"It really exhilarates me to build and grow this and hire the next employee and partner with the next recipient school and get contracts. It's the art of building something that is sustainable and viable," Dyme said. "This is what drives me; it isn't about the dollars at all."