Name: Ben Rathi
Year: Junior
Majors: Business and Computer Science
Hometown: Novi, MI
Fun Fact: Sometimes I try to listen to meaningful music but honestly I’m obsessed with EDM #sorrynotsorry
Her Campus: Can you tell us a bit about Blueprints for Pangaea and how the idea behind it came to you?
Ben Rathi: The summer after my freshman year, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the largest hospital in Nepal. This hospital was supposed to be one of the best in the country, but what I saw shocked me. Doctors would routinely re-use gloves, and were short of very basic medical supplies. They even put three patients per hospital bed with five beds in a room! I did more research and learned that this lack of basic medical supplies exists around the world. Hospitals will have malaria vaccinations, but they won’t have very basic medical supplies (syringes, IV tubes) to administer them. On the other hand, in the United States, we throw away hundreds of millions of pounds of unused, usable medical supplies and equipment each year. I saw a huge demand for unused supplies and seemingly endless supply in the United States. Applying the principles we learned in Econ 101, I thought, “I wonder if students can help solve this problem.” Essentially, we collect unused medical supplies and equipment from hospitals in the US, store and sort them in warehouses here, then work with international agencies to ship them overseas. Last March, we sent over 20,000 pounds of medical supplies to Ghana, and we are expanding our operations to college campuses around the nation! The reason I’m passionate about our business model is because we are incredibly efficient. With a $2 donation, we can send $1,000 of medical supplies overseas!
HC: How did this nonprofit ultimately come to fruition? How did you assemble your team?
BR: Lots of trial and error, but mostly error. I started talking about this idea with everyone I knew. Assembling a team is the most important task for an early-stage startup. Luckily, our campus is full of talented, passionate students, and I was able to meet a lot of the right people at the right time. Gathering supplies was another major hurdle. The first time we asked hospitals to give us their medical supplies, we were mostly turned down (what are these undergrads doing anyway?). But now, two years later, we’ve formed many successful partnerships with hospitals and medical suppliers around the country.
HC: Can you tell us about the 2015 Ross Michigan Business Challenge? How did it feel it to secure $15K for your cause?
BR: The Michigan Business Challenge was intense! I originally entered on a whim, hoping to win $200 by moving on to the 2nd round. Beyond that, I had very few expectations. But, we ended up proceeding all the way to the semi-final round, where we were the only undergraduate team in the Social Impact Track. Every competing team was composed of graduate students, mostly MBA, MPH, MPP, and PhDs. We gave it our all and feel blessed to have received the grand prize. The $15K is huge for our organization — it will enable us to send nearly 100,000 lbs of medical supplies worth over $2M!
HC: Have there been any major developments with Blueprints for Pangaea since the business challenge? What are your goals for this new year?
BR: Absolutely! We’ve been working on two different projects at Blueprints. The first is the one that’s discussed more frequently, which is to send supplies overseas. The second project, however, is arguably more important: we are creating a sustainable business model that will enable college students around the country to collect unused medical supplies and efficiently ship them overseas to hospitals in need. Our vision is to be shipping over 1M pounds of unused medical supplies each year by 2020. We’ve recruited a new executive board and I have personally stepped down as CEO to ensure sustainability of the organization. We’ve also begun the college expansion process and we are working on starting B4P chapters at three different colleges. Finally, we have enough supplies for two more shipments, both of which are planned for the next four months.
Thank you for learning about the organization, and always feel free to reach out to me or the team at b4pglobal.org