In the days leading up to Thanksgiving Break, young entrepreneurs gathered for the Gumball Challenge — an effort to raise money for microfinance that began this month at Stanford, Yale, UC-Berkeley, St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn.

With only $27 microloans and 27 gumballs, teams at Stanford generated $3,600 for loans for poor entrepreneurs in foreign countries. Proceeds were channeled through kiva.org, a San Francisco based microfinance organization.

“We wanted to let students engage with microfinance in a short amount of time, with little resources,” said Stanford Gumball Challenge President Jason Shen ‘08 in a press release.

“In turn, their revenue helps the working poor help themselves and their families.”

“It was a great experience because everyone realized how much they can accomplish in just one week’s time,” added Travis Kiefer ‘11, a team leader, in the release. “We raised $470 plus some foreign currency — pocket change for social change.”