EDUN LIVE On Campus (ELOC) is a socially responsible, student-run t-shirt company. ELOC seeks to provide sustainable job opportunities for people in sub-Saharan Africa with money earned from the 100 percent made-in-Africa t-shirts. There are currently eight chapters at campuses around the U.S. but not yet at Mizzou. Even though CoMo has its fair share of t-shirt companies, none are quite like EDUN LIVE.
“I think that there is a lot of competition in Columbia for tees, but it would be nice to have students be socially responsible with their apparel choices,” sophomore Caroline Elliott says. “If there is a way to popularize the idea, I think it has potential to be successful.”
According to ELOC’s website, 50 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa live in absolute poverty. If just 1 percent, or 44 of the nation’s 4,352 colleges and universities, opened chapters and sold 5,000 shirts in the first year, then a total of 215,000 shirts would produced and sold. Translation: millions of African lives would improve.
Junior Sarah Herington likes the concept but recognizes the program’s success depends on student interest.
As freshman Luke Jehle points out, with a campus as large as Mizzou, there are bound to be supporters.
“I think that it’s definitely a cool idea,” Jehle says. “There are enough people on campus that would support this kind of company because of the charity it donates toward.”
For more information about ELOC or if you’re interested in starting a chapter, visit http://www.edunliveoncampus.com/.