Twenty year old sophomore Ben Lewis is busy these days. When he's not studying for mid term exams he is traveling cross country pitching his own bottled water that he says has the power to change the world.
The latest product from corporate America comes from a baby faced University of Pennsylvania sophomore who shares a room with three other roommates. Today he is in Anaheim, California at a health foods trade show pitching his Give water brand to the big wigs from the likes of Pepsi and Coke.
The bottles come in different colors and a dime from each bottle sold goes to charity. Orange helps the fight against muscular disorders, pink is for breast cancer research, green goes to the environment and blue helps children fight AIDS.
Ben says "Our whole selling point is that it's not about the water, it's about the movement."
Lewis, a Pittsburgh native who sold lemonade as a kid, thought water would be a great vehicle to start a business so he started making deliveries out of the back of his car with a few friends and it quickly grew from there.
A bottling plant in upstate New York is supplying ten retail chains including Whole Foods and more chains are signing up. So far he says he has raised seventy-five thousand dollars for charities but has yet to turn a profit. All in due time he says.
One of the lucky recipients of his largesse is Dana Richardson-Heron, CEO of the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation based in New York. "If you have the choice to buy water that's going to benefit a corporation versus water that’s going to benefit an organization such as the Susan Komen foundation I think you'll choose Ben's water."
Ben doesn't worry about today's tough economy and the possibility that it may be an inopportune time to start a business, "I think it's a great time for an entrepreneur to start a business, I think you can make it happen as long as you have a great idea, a passion, a unique concept and the energy behind it."