Butler County native and Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania graduate Megan Kyne (first from left in the third row) worked with other college students across the U.S. this spring to launch an open online database matching volunteers to organizations. The idea behind Corona Connects was to help connect people and promote good deeds during the pandemic. The platform has become a resource for a number of volunteer organizations across the country.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

That’s how a team of more than 20 college students from across the United States arrived at the idea for Corona Connects, a free online platform connecting volunteers with opportunities in the community.

“This is certainly a tough time,” said Sherry Lynn, a Butler County resident and businesswoman. “(Corona Connects) has done really well.”

Lynn’s daughter is Megan Kyne, who is partly responsible for the launch of coronaconnects.org.

When Kyne and her peers were forced into a virtual education this spring because of the pandemic, they found themselves with spare time and a desire to volunteer.

The problem was finding ways to do it.

“When I started looking for opportunities to do so, I was lost,” Kyne, who graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania this year, said. “I felt like I couldn’t easily find a way to meaningfully volunteer.”

A Butler native, Kyne became involved with launching Corona Connects after seeing a post by University of Pennsylvania classmate Hadassah Raskas.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Tuesday’s Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.