By Wendy Binns
Publisher

Far away from 20-year-old Giovanni Mannella’s life at Georgia Tech, children in Burundi, Africa, Peru and Brazil are wearing shirts as a result of this student’s business venture: GivingThanks Clothing. For every shirt the company sells, they give another shirt away to a child in need.

As a self-proclaimed “entrepreneur by heart,” Giovanni set a vision for his company while on spring break in Costa Rica in 2007, where many of the children and workers in the field weren’t wearing shirts. Seeing them exposed to the sun and elements sparked the idea to help them get clothing.

“The hardest part about starting any company is the dedication, financial backing, and entrepreneurial mind set,” Mannella said. “It has been over a year since GivingThanks was started, and we are just breaking the cusp and entering the market. It has always been hard to stay focused and dedicated, but every time I step back and look at how far I have come, the children we are helping, and the potential the company possesses, I get a spark to continue and push forward.”

Mannella is also putting his money where his heart is; he self-funded the entire company with money saved from birthdays, chores, and “everything in between.”

To date, GivingThanks has donated 1,000 shirts, which were sorted and distributed over the summer. The rising sophomore at Georgia Tech was unable to make the trip to see the shirts distributed because of his hectic class schedule.

“I am studying to become an industrial systems engineer at Georgia Tech, and I know there is a future in my engineering degree,” he said. “Yet, if I had my choice and God willing, I would love to see GivingThanks grow into a large corporation. I think I would have the coolest job in the world, just giving away shirts every day and by that time hopefully more.”

For more information, visit www.ShopGivingThanks.com.