The EGo Initiative

Despite the fact that I've never once considered myself a "creative" person, I've always had this unshakable desire to create. It's almost like an itch that I could never fully quell. Since the start of the pandemic, this "itch" of mine only seemed to grow exacerbated. And over the past month or so, it finally reached a point where I just couldn't ignore it any longer. So, what exactly was this itch that was bothering me so much? In truth, there's been an idea I've been sitting on since about May 2020.

That idea has since turned into a project I call "The EGo Initiative." Here's what it is:

The "What": EGo stands for "Essentials on the Go." It's meant to be a peer-to-peer grocery delivery service specifically for university students, and it's designed to be a platform where those who don't want to put themselves at risk can have an alternative which affords them both convenience and safety. Students may schedule deliveries in advance, collaborate with those living in proximity to them, and split the cost of any deliveries they may need. These deliveries will be made not by random strangers, but rather by fellow university students.

The "Why": As a UCLA student, I first came up with this idea while talking to some of my peers living in Westwood. It turns out that many residents have been particularly concerned with grocery stores being a potential hub to spread Covid-19, especially given that cases are only continuing to rise. Should schools re-transition from remote learning to in-person learning this fall, these concerns hold even more weight. So, when I thought about potential ways to combat this, one of the ideas I came up with was this concept of a peer-to-peer grocery delivery service wherein interactions happened almost exclusively between university students.

The "Purpose": Even in 2021, Covid-19 unfortunately isn't going away any time soon. College towns are positioned at even greater risk due to their high density and close proximity of both places and people in relation to one another. This is especially true in places like Westwood, where the main center of activity is the Village and everything is fairly concentrated together. Even with social distancing protocols in place, it can be nearly impossible to completely avoid any form of close contact with other people, especially in places like grocery stores. EGo is meant to combat the heavy foot traffic which occurs in these areas, and serves as a way to reduce the spread of Covid, minimize risk to college communities, and maximize both convenience and safety. Because interactions happen exclusively between fellow university students, it also serves as a way to connect.

The Greater Purpose: Initially, I had envisioned EGo as a psuedo-startup idea. These days, startups are treated as ways to make money and profit as much as possible from the product being offered. Whenever I talked about it, one of the first questions I'd get asked would be: "How are you going to monetize this?" That bothered me. EGo stemmed almost entirely from my desire to create something useful and nothing more. My focus with this initiative is not to make tons of money, but rather to give back to the community which has done so much to build me into what I am today. Any profits made from this initiative will therefore be split in two ways:

1) Those who make deliveries will be paid their fair wage/share.

2) Excess profits will go towards buying essential supplies and distributing them in

care packages to homeless populations around university towns.

While I may not have every little detail completely worked out yet, this initiative is something I'm dead set on seeing through to the end. If you have any questions, feedback, or better yet, if you're someone who wants to work with me on bringing this initiative to life, please don't hesitate to send me an e-mail at chescalegaspi@g.ucla.edu. Thank you for reading this far. More updates on EGo coming soon!