#49 Wilmington Green Box: Providing Youth With Entrepreneurial Skills And Helping The Hungry

This past month, I had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Jason Aviles, the project director of Wilmington Green Box located in Delaware. Wilmington Green Box is a nonprofit organization that launched in 2016 which aims to provide at-risk youth with entrepreneurial skills, as well as provide produce and other healthy foods to communities characterized as food deserts within the city.

Wilmington Green Box was born from the realization of a community issue. Over sixty percent of Wilmington is considered to be a food desert, meaning those living in these areas do not have ready access to fresh affordable produce. Additionally, the nearest grocery stores often stock poor quality produce as the residents are more likely to buy cheaper, high-fat, filling foods rather than less-filling, more-expensive goods.

After creating a concept, the team needed to develop a name. “Wilmington” and “Green” came from the location and the product. But the “Box” part of the name is less obvious. Prior to the launch of the company, Aviles travelled to South Africa and was introduced to a gathering area with small shops made of shipping freight containers. Thus, Wilmington Green Box was born.

The road to opening was difficult as the team struggled to find donors. Their concept was brand new and it was difficult for other people to see their vision. In order to pay their employees and buy supplies, the team used their own money. They educated the community on vegan and plant based foods and provided tastings to show that food can be healthy and taste good too.

The kiosk store launched officially in the summer of 2016 and has been operating ever since. As of now, the team consists of Jason Aviles, John Naughton, James Thompson, and Emmanuel Knotts, and they are looking to further expand their business. Along with opening a store front location, the team is seeking to add more items to their menu including smoothie bowls and to increase their employment of at-risk teens from 9 to 40 workers in the coming months.

Author: Safiyyah Wilson from CompanyRootsxDelaware

Editors: Sourish Jasti and Megan Chen