Ryan Xavier was born in Mexico City but grew up in the Westchester area of Los Angeles. He works in International Real Estate and founded Cobblestone Paris Rentals, an apartment rental agency in Paris, France. The COVID pandemic impacted his business. He dreamed of returning to a simpler time of community connections, neighborhood sharing, and real food from real people, and was inspired by his grandmother’s backyard with a lemon tree and raised-bed garden with local, organic and seasonal food. The surplus falls and rots, while millions more people now are having food insecurity in food deserts, and social connections are being lost.
He sees us as an urban village, with growers, bakers, makers (of handicrafts, etc), and everyone contributing what they have in exchange for what they need. He tested an idea of a website for these exchanges in May 2020. 900 people participated in the first 2 weeks, with pickers and/or growers for fruits and vegetables. His cofounder and website manager is Christopher Chin in Seattle. They launched a new website in July, adding many other items such as eggs, honey, bakery, and homemade cooking. 8000 people are participating with 1800 listings (all free) in 32 cities and 7 countries. People can trade or sell (negotiating their own terms), or give away to those in need. Website features includes “Search Near Me”, “Invite Friends”, “Get App” (for iOS or Android devices), and a Spanish language version.
Ryan is looking for more publicity in newspapers and TV, for promoting this social-connecting network for sharing, searching, browsing and connecting with other people to satisfy their mutual needs. Check out the website at https://gogalora.com/. He can be reached at ryan@gogalora.com for ideas or volunteering. If you have new website ideas or new feature requests for Galora, email his cofounder Chris Chin at chris@gogalora.com.