Some of the organizers of the Wall Street protests that started in mid-September have begun to use WePay, an online donation system, to collect funds from people wishing to support the protests.
The protests, which, according to their ‘general assembly' website, are in response to American corporations' value of "profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality," and the way that those values are allowed to run the government, require food and supplies in order to continue their crusade.
According to the WePay website, $1,200 of the proceeds went toward the purchase of food for the protestors who have been camping out in Manhattan Park since the occupation began.
WePay, a system co-founded by Boston College graduate Bill Clerico, BC '07, and Rich Aberman, BC '07, allows its users to easily collect money from large groups of people, charging a flat fee of 50 cents per payment or 3.5 percent of the total. The site, launched in 2008, also allows the page creator to withdraw funds and send payment reminders. The prototype, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal, was based on Aberman's trouble with collecting money from friends for a trip and Clerico's constant hounding of bill payments for the multiple on-campus clubs of which he was the treasurer.
Clerico, during his time at BC, co-founded the Boston College Venture Competition (BCVC), in which undergraduates can win $10,000 in capital to start a business. BCVC, founded in 2006 by Clerico; Matt Becker, BC '08; Eric Hilberg, BC '06; and Paul Santora, BC '08; helpedClerico and Aberman to launch WePay.
BCVC, with the support of Y Combinator, a firm that funds online and software start-up companies, has also launched WakeMate, the product of the competition's 2009 winning team. ♦
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