Hills Alumnus Takes On World's Problems With The Click of a Mouse

What if every day purchases could help change the world? That is the question Half Hollow Hills alumnus Zack Rosenberg, is answering with his entrepreneurial website, DoGoodBuy.us

The website is a one-stop-shop for every day items and unique finds from organic soaps and exotic coffees and teas, to clothing, bottle openers, yoga totes, rain boots and even hammocks. Here’s the kicker: every item sold goes to help charities around the world.

Rosenberg, who celebrated the first anniversary of the website Wednesday, has partnered with more than 80 charities to sell items, in which the proceeds go toward fighting poverty, hunger, disease, environmental degradation and other life-threatening ills around the globe.

Inspiration for the website struck last year during a trip to the grocery store. Rosenberg was in the cereal aisle with his son picking up the usual favorites – Lucky Charms and Coco-Puffs, when he looked at the ingredients and decided to put his foot down. 

“I said you’re going to pick out something good, something healthy and you’re going to eat it.”

Eventually, he decided on Newman’s Own, which donates its profits to thousands of charities. That day, Rosenberg turned that strike of inspiration into perspiration and searched online for six hours to find socially responsible companies. After two weeks of constant Google searches, Rosenberg was fed up with his never-ending quest and decided there needed to be a single location where people could go to find items that are both good for them, and others. From there, Do Good Buy Us was born.

“There are so many great charities, but by and large, they’re terrible marketers. You have the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which has had enormous success with the 'Live Strong' bracelets, but those charities have a tremendous budget and sales team,” Rosenberg said. “What about everyone else? How do they fight through the clutter?”

“My goal is to find high quality products, sold by good charities, and put them all in one place.”

One of those products include Guatemalan coffee, in which the sales go to Hunger Relief International, a charity dedicated to alleviating the impact of hunger on the lives of malnourished children and their families. The sale means that when one person buys a pound of coffee, another gets food for a week. 

The website allows consumers to search items by causes such as animals, education, environment and health, or by products including foods, clothing, household goods, jewelry and beauty.

Of its total sales, about 90 percent of the website’s profits go back to the charities. The other part of Rosenberg’s business is putting together galas and events for its non-profit partners.

“I believe in making the word a better place," he said. "I don’t think any one is happier at their job than I am."