Pace juniors Harshini Rajkumar and Kyle Coimbra had pursued their interest of a housekeeping program on campus but the business fell through last minute due to concerns over the privacy of students since they would have to go into the dorm rooms to clean.

However, that process gave them the real-world experience and an opportunity to take charge of Pace Delivers, a student-run business that was initiated at Pace in the spring of 2016. Within a month of the 2018-2019 school year, Pace Delivers has almost matched their gross income with last year’s total.

Rajkumar, the business’ Chief Operating Officer, said that the transformation was a combined effort between last year and this year’s leadership, adding that there were only three returning members. This year, they added a second shift of meals, in addition to the option of ordering by 11 p.m to get food between 12 – 12:30 a.m., and students can now also order by 9 p.m to receive food by 10-10:30 p.m.

The process begins at 8:30 p.m. when someone starts processing the orders that were received. They then put it in the register and send it to the restaurants where a driver and a runner will go to pick it up. Earlier in the semester, the delivery system ran into a problem where the food was not getting delivered on time. However, they were able to solve that issue by adding a pick-up team and an additional driver, which cut their time in half.

Cristina Rivera, a freshman, is enjoying the option Pace Delivers gives for food service.

“I like that I’m able to get food at a late time because if I’m up doing homework the time passes and I forget to eat, I like that Pace delivery is there so I can eat later,” she said.

Rajkumar identified a key strength in the program this year is the standard the employees are held to.

“You have to be on top of things and people and hold people accountable,” she said.

As the demand and popularity rise for Pace Delivers, there’s a chance that more shifts will come.

“We have to keep talking and see how the rest of the fall semester goes,” said Rajkumar.