Ohio Wesleyan Freshman Founds Nonprofit to Provide Clothing, Shoes to Delaware County Homeless
Name: Alex Goldenberg ’25
Hometown: New York City, New York
Major: Pre-Medicine
OWU Connection Experience: Founding and operating a nonprofit organization
With assistance from the Delaware Entrepreneurial Center at Ohio Wesleyan University, Goldenberg founded Community Campus, a nonprofit organization devoted to establishing a permanent textile recycling program on the OWU campus. Community Campus “upcycles” textiles to provide clothing and shoes to homeless people in Delaware County.
Involving OWU Faculty
“Even before deciding Ohio Wesleyan was where I wanted to continue my academic career, Megan Ellis, the director of the Delaware Entrepreneurship Center, was extremely supportive and eager to help me begin this organization on the OWU campus.” (Ellis is a 2005 Ohio Wesleyan alumna.)
“After I chose OWU, we immediately began working together, allowing me to gain expertise from her and the other entrepreneurship center resources. She has helped connect me with a number of alumni and Ohio Wesleyan professionals like (Career Connection expert) Newton Kimberly, who has helped me with Community Campus’s strategic operations and budgeting.” (Kimberly is a 2013 OWU graduate.)
“Ellis also connected me with Mark Shipps and Jim Mendenhall. Both are OWU alumni and have great connections to the Delaware county community and the nonprofit sector. They have been very helpful at facilitating our Phi Delta Theta partnership.” (Shipps and Mendenhall are members of the OWU classes of 1970 and 1973, respectively.)
Greek Life Involvement
“Community Campus has partnered with the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity to continue to make our presence on campus known and to increase philanthropic opportunities for other students and Greek life organizations.
“They have been pivotal to our growth. We co-hosted a fundraising event for Community Campus where we raised over $200 in monetary donations and 10 large bags of clothing donations, which we are looking to process and donate now.”
