A lost pet
can be one of the most painful and scary moments in a person’s life, but a
young Southwest Miami-Dade entrepreneur wants to help end that suffering.
Khareem
Oliver, 18, has launched beta website Find or Found and hopes to soon release a
smartphone application that allows people to find their lost pets.
Oliver said
he always wanted to own a pet, but that the apartments where he lived and his
family didn’t allow it. His love for animals never went away, so he figured out
a way to take care of them without actually owning one.
The teen began volunteering at PetSmart in Midtown seven
years ago. He quickly gained the friendship and trust of mentor and now friend Tia
Williams, who brought him on board and guided him in his passion, shuttling him
to and from the store. Through her organization Operation PAW, they would go
into neighborhoods and trap stray cats, get them spayed or neutered and
adopted.
Oliver’s middle school, Richmond Heights, offered a zoo
program in which students take science classes at the zoo and interact with
exotic animals and pets on lab days. Now a senior at Coral Gables Senior High,
he has turned his experience and love for animals into a business idea. He’s in
the academy of finance at his school and has taken first place in two Network
for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) competitions, winning a total of $8,000 in
seed money. He also presented his idea at eMERGE AMERICAS a few months back.
Author: CHRISTIAN PORTILLA
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