When Miguel Moreno, co-owner of Barn Walls, read Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World<\/em> by former president Bill Clinton, he started to think about how the same mentality could be applied in their business. He wanted to help people, but he didn\u2019t have time to spend at food banks or shelters. That\u2019s why he turned to Kiva, which is a non-profit organization that\u2019s fueled by passionate people around the world. Miguel originally read about Kiva in Giving<\/em> and thought it sounded like a powerful movement. If you want to give back, you just create an account and contribute a minimum of $25 each to hundreds of different crowdfunded loans and projects. Miguel thought it was a great fit for their company because it allowed Barn Walls to do so much with so little\u2014a necessary constraint when starting a business while still wanting to empower others.<\/p>\n The first project that Barn Walls helped to fund was a woman in Guatemala who needed to buy a refrigerator for her street food businesses. She only needed $200 and with that, she was able to buy her equipment, work towards turning a profit, and slowly began to come out of poverty. The microloan was a small, but extremely important, change that made a big impact in her life.<\/p>\n One of the best things about Kiva is that close to 98% of loans are repaid, interest free. When you receive your donation back, you can either contribute to Kiva itself or re-distribute it to someone else in need. Barn Walls has been lending money to those in need for nearly 5 years. Every month, Barn Walls finds a new project that needs help. After seeing the difference that their contribution made to the woman in Guatemala, they look for loans that are close to closing so they can help more people achieve their goals in less time.<\/p>\n