At 21 years old, Kyle Ueckermann (Founder and CEO of Vollar) was volunteering in a community among the poor and homeless of Pretoria. Every Sunday, he would hold a meeting in an abandoned field. The place was dirty, dry and dusty but served as the foundation for growing friendships as every week Kyle and a few men from the community would sit under the trees, study the bible, and share life together.

Over time Kyle befriended Maurice, a refugee from Zimbabwe. Maurice was a painter by trade but was unable to find stable work, making every day a battle to meet his most basic needs. One afternoon, completely hopeless for his future, Maurice turned to Kyle and said, “Kyle, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Feeling powerless to make any long term difference in his friend’s life, Kyle promised he would find a way to help him.

With deep conviction, Kyle committed himself to fulfil this promise, not just to Maurice, but everything Maurice represents… The billions of people just like him hopelessly trapped in poverty with no way to pull themselves out.

Over the next 6 years, he co-founded a technology company in Europe and the USA, dedicated to helping volunteers better meet the needs of their communities. This sparked the crazy idea of Vollar, a platform designed to overcome poverty and fulfil the promise Kyle made to Maurice all those years before.

Unfortunately, Kyle lost contact with Maurice, but for Vollar, Maurice still stands as a symbol of the great need globally and the opportunity we all have to make a difference. Do you know a "Maurice"?