While some high schoolers have embraced the pandemic as a time to sleep in and play video games, at least one teen is using the time to flex his entrepreneurial muscles.
Ben Pritzker, 15, a rising junior at Solebury School, created a business to address the needs of families during COVID-19.
“I sat down with my parents and brainstormed what families’ needs and wants were now that schools are closed and there’s a new normal,” said Pritzker, a Scotch Plains, N.J., resident.
“We came up with a hands-on sustainability project that they may not experience in traditional schools. I live on a farm so working with animals and plants and building things is second nature to me,” he explained.
And thus, Tiki Love Sustainability Projects was born, offering: butterfly hatching kits, chicken hatching kits, microgreen countertop gardens, deluxe starter gardens, flower gardens and reptiles.
The community response has been very strong.
“I’ve had over 140 customers,” said Pritzker. “I was hired by a nursing home to build a vegetable garden. Most of my customers, though, are families who want their children to have the experience of hatching chicks or growing their own vegetables.
“Right now butterfly kits are a big hit,” he explained.
“The look on my 5-year-old’s face when we unpacked our butterfly kit was priceless. She’s been fascinated by the caterpillars all day and cannot wait for the butterflies,” said one mom from Queens, N.Y.
“Thank you, Ben and Tiki Love Butterflies.”
Pritzker takes orders on his website
tikiloveprojects.com and can ship most products.
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