For Leap Street of Loudoun County, Lovettsville Oktoberfest Provides Springboard for Statewide Rollout
Web-Based Service That Safely Connects Students with Neighborhood Job
Opportunities Now “Live” Throughout Commonwealth
LOVETTSVILLE, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Leap
Street of Loudoun County today announced that its new web-based
service, which safely connects middle- and high-school students with job
opportunities in their local neighborhoods, yesterday went “live”
statewide following an enthusiastic response by prospective students,
parents and neighbor employers at the 22nd annual
Lovettsville Oktoberfest held September 23 – 26.
Launched in Loudoun County in May 2016, Leap Street provides a forum
where young people can learn how to market and run a small business,
earn their own money and gain an appreciation of the value of saving and
investing. To date, 90 students have signed up and are providing
services to Loudoun County neighborhoods, while more than 200 neighbors
have gone through the background check and are using the site to hire
students. Leap Street performs a background check before neighbors can
access the student database and, to verify parental consent, there is
one-time charge to the parent’s credit card before the student’s profile
is posted on the site.
Leap Street was invited to participate in this fall’s Lovettsville
Oktoberfest as a partner/host in the Kinderfest activities held Saturday
September 24 on the Town Green.
Representing Leap Street were founder and managing director Robin Greene
and registered students Jalen Alford, 16, and Abigail Thomas, 13.
Activities included a “golf challenge” game, a financial literacy brain
teaser game – “Would you rather have a million dollars now or a penny
that doubles every day for the next 30 days?” – and a $50 Starbucks gift
card raffle for students who chose the money-wise alternative. (The
penny doubling adds up to more $10.7 million after 30 days).
According to Greene, more than 500 students and parents visited the Leap
Street activity tent between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. “We couldn’t have
been more thrilled with the response,” said Greene.
Every single teen who came by took up the brain teaser challenge and 50
qualified for the raffle, which was won by a female student. Eight
students correctly computed the exact penny-doubling total of
$10,737,418.20.
Equally important, added Greene, “We talked to dozens of parents who had
already heard about Leap Street and expressed interest in hiring our
students. One parent told us that she had just hired one of our female
students the night before for a babysitting job and that the student had
done a great job.”
When parents learn about the safety features built into Leap Street,
Greene noted, they are reassured. She said, “A student profile doesn’t
go live until a parent approves. The parent is copied on all messages to
the student. And neighbors can’t access the student database until they
pass the background check.”
“Getting so much positive feedback at Lovettsville Oktoberfest
reaffirmed that we are on the right track,” Greene said. “Parents who
have hired our students think they are awesome, which is evidence of the
quality of our student database. At the same time, parents who have
heard about Leap Street are hungry to hire our students. Meanwhile,
teens are jumping at the money-earning opportunity Leap Street provides.”
“That’s why we decided to take the program statewide,” she said.
About Leap Street
Leap Street is sponsored by The Renaissance Project, a Virginia-based
social benefit corporation that is supported by a diverse group of
financial professionals and small business owners in the Washington,
D.C. region. Leap Street’s mission is to bring communities together and
to revive the entrepreneurial spirit across America, using business as a
force for good and harnessing the power of free enterprise to create
public benefit. For more information, visit www.leapstreet.org.
Contacts
Bill Holleran Communications
Bill Holleran, 301-996-9495
wholleran2@comcast.net
