Naperville Central Teens Give Back To Community With New Business

NAPERVILLE, IL — Camryn Eickenberg and Anthony Pendolino came up with the idea of GOAT Gifts in their business incubator class at Naperville Central High School just a few months before the pandemic hit. Instead of crumbling under the pressure of the coronavirus crisis, GOAT Gifts rose to the occasion and began giving back to their community with a simple gesture that has helped the business grow exponentially.

GOAT Gifts began with an idea to send care packages to college students. Chief Executive Officer Pendolino told Patch the name "GOAT Gifts"comes from the fact that their goal is to offer the "greatest gifts of all time."

Tailored to college students, the company's flagship care package contains snacks, gum, hand sanitizer, energy drinks and more.

The idea caught on fast, with high school seniors Pendolino and Eickenberg, who is Chief Operating Officer, getting a flood of support from friends and family to start. Next, students and staff at Naperville Central High School got involved, often sending packages to friends and family members who aren't in college.

Then, the pandemic hit, shutting down businesses throughout Naperville, the state and the country. That's when Eickenberg and Pendolino got the idea to donate gift boxes to health care workers, a move that really launched their business, Pendolino told Patch.

“GOAT Gifts really began, not in the very beginning, but when we started donating boxes,” Pendolino said.

The idea is simple: GOAT Gifts donates one gift box to an essential worker for each box that you purchase. There's no additional cost to the customer for the donation to be made.

To date, GOAT Gifts has hand-delivered over 250 gift boxes to frontline health care workers at Edward Hospital and other locations in and around Naperville.

Due to coronavirus, Eickenberg and Pendolino can only drop off their donations at the front desk of each hospital, so they're unable to see the reactions of the workers who receive them. Instead, they include a thank-you note and instructions for the workers to share their photos and tag GOAT Gifts on social media.

“Having a deeper meaning and a deeper goal kind of brings it full circle and makes it a lot more special," Eickenberg told Patch.

GOAT Gifts recently launched its second care package. The Cozy Box contains fuzzy socks, a ceramic mug, hot cocoa and sweets. In the near future, the company plans to offer a "wider variety of care packages to suit everyone," including gift boxes for birthdays and other special occasions, Pendolino said.

Eickenberg added that they aim to create "new and different boxes with unique themes." More variety should lead to more sales, which will help further the company's mission to aid essential workers.

Eickenberg said, "The more people buy boxes, the more boxes we can donate."

Click the link to check out the selection at GOAT Gifts. For each purchase made, the company will donate a gift box to an essential worker.