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Undergraduate Student Launching a Business to Help At-Risk Youth

Droege is in the process of launching a seasonal lawn care business – The Agape Lawn Company – in collaboration with Agape Corner Boarding School in Durham, North Carolina. The new business, which Droege named after the school, will help youth ages 14 to 22 by providing them an opportunity to run a business in which they can learn skills, generate income and get a taste of entrepreneurship.

Droege himself has an interest in entrepreneurship and had worked for a landscaping company while in high school. Starting his own business now “was a logical progression for me,” he said. It was also logical for him to connect with the Durham school.The free school, which serves children with a variety of troubled backgrounds, has been in operation for almost three decades and it is also where Droege is a teacher and house mentor.

The word Agape translates to mean “unconditional love,” Droege said. “I really wanted to name the business after the school. Agape Corner is a place where children can come and be loved unconditionally, which, unfortunately, is not what most of these children receive elsewhere,” he said.

While the landscaping business was primarily his idea, Droege said the boarding school had long been interested in seeing a vocational training program for the youth in the community.

“I think it is important to help other young people because I was helped,” Droege said. He also sees the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the possibility of the company’s impact on the community. “Without help, most of us would not be where we are today,” he said.

The new landscaping business will provide employment that will also enable the students to learn skills and earn money. The students will receive the minimum wage. While the company may possibly be able to pay the youth more, earning the minimum hourly salary is an integral part of the experience, Droege said, as he wants them to realize that working hard for a low wage is not ideal.

“That will make it very real to them that it is necessary to pursue future education and become a leader in the workplace, so that they can support the kind of lifestyle they desire,” he said.

Each youth that is part of the company will have a specific duty, including cutting the grass, driving the company truck, pricing yards, securing new business, scheduling and customer relations, mapping out an efficient plan for how to get the crew to and from the site, and also identifying possible hazards to the crew and to the client, such as sticks, holes, and stakes. Droege said that the skills the youth will learn are invaluable in the workplace and in life.

“The purpose of Agape Lawn Company is not to generate income for its owners,” he said. “Rather, it is to tangibly help those youth and young adults who are seeking to help themselves through scholarships, savings, matching programs, and business skills.”

Droege says that, among other things, he hopes the young people involved will learn how to handle their money responsibly, maintain a good grade point average and recognize the value of education after high school. Other lessons he hopes come through include understanding the costs of living and what it takes to provide for oneself, building a network of individuals that they can look to for future opportunities, and learning that community involvement is an obligation.

“I feel that I am in a position to help others, and since I can, there’s no reason not to,” Droege said.

As the program is still in its formative stages, Droege welcomes those interested in his venture to contact him.

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Brent Droege and two of the Agape Lawn Company student workers.