BILL GREENE/GLOBE STAFF
03/04/2013 | 2:10 PM
Start-up Leaf helps fuel Harvard Square giving
Leaf, which offers payment processing and customer analytics services, is entering a cut-throat market, but the start-up is giving back with a new Harvard Square program to help the homeless.
The company is offering free units of its LeafPresenter, a custom Android tablet, to area stores and letting customers choose how much they donate to a variety of non-profits.
Participating businesses include:
— Black Ink
— Brattle Square Florist,
— Concepts,
— Curious George
— Market in the Square
— Tistik
— The Tannery
Charities users can donate to are: Youth on Fire, Harvard Square Meals Program, On The Rise, Bread and Jams’ Self Advocacy Center, CASPAR, Spare Change and The Harvard Square Homeless Shelter.
“It’s combining cutting-edge technology with a business association that has a very strong, progressive community outlook to benefit a group of of organizations supporting people who are struggling in the area,” Ayala Livny, director of Youth on Fire, told the Globe’s Alyssa Edes. “In a way, I kind of think this would only ever happen in Harvard Square.”
