Wellesley’s Elizabeth Geisinger has launched a website called My Hometown Link designed to put students looking for work in touch with parents in need of help, such as babysitting, tutoring and dog walking. It costs $12.95 a year to join.
Geisinger is a Bucknell University senior who over the past few years has offered tennis lessons in Wellesley. She saw a need for a student-parent connection a few years ago, and as a business major decided to put her ideas into action with My Hometown Link. She surveyed more than 100 Wellesley moms to gauge the need for the site and to get a feel for what it should entail.
Geisinger worked on the website last semester and says she is used to juggling lots of projects while in school, so doesn’t foresee managing it during this school year as being an issue. The site is based on technology from a company called Ning that is in the business of enabling people to set up online communities.
The site is designed to let participants share as little or as much info about themselves as they wish, though steps are being taken to ensure privacy. Eventually, you’ll need a direct invitation from a member to join the site.
“The idea is not to connect you with people that you know nothing about but rather to expand your connections through people you trust. Even if you do not know a student yourself, you are likely to find someone else on the site that you know who does,” she writes.
For more info, contact Geisinger at: Esg004@bucknell.edu
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