Unite to Light Donates 250 Solar Chargers to Local, International Nonprofits

Unite to Light, a Santa Barbara based nonprofit, donated 250 of its new solar charger amd battery banks to three nonprofits, Direct Relief, Africa Schools of Kenya and Edna Adan Hospital Foundation in Somaliland.

The donations were enabled through Unite to Light’s Buy One, Give One business model that dedicates a charger for every one purchased. Chargers were sold as part of a re-sale”event in June to launch this new product.

Unite to Light was founded in 2010 when Dr. John Bowers met a visiting professor from Ghana and learned of students unable to study at night due to the lack of electricity. They developed a low cost, highly efficient, durable solar lamp.

The new solar charger is the result of feedback from clients to meet a growing demand for power for phones, tablets and small medical devices.

To date, Unite to Light has distributed some 105,000 solar lamps and solar chargers to help children learn to read, enable midwives and community health clinics, and assist in times of disaster.

“Direct Relief is actively responding to multiple complex emergencies and civil conflicts around the world,” he said.Andrew MacCalla, director, International Programs & Emergency Preparedness and Response at Direct Relief told how they would prioritize the donation:

“The solar chargers will be distributed by our local partners in places like Yemen, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda primarily benefiting people living in under-resourced refugee camps,” he said.

“The Unite to Light solar chargers will greatly benefit the Maasai students of Esiteti Primary School,” said Teri Gabrielsen, executive director of Africa Schools of Kenya.

“A recent Digital Literacy Training Program was introduced by our Kenyan partner, Land and Life Foundation. Keeping tablets and other electrical school supplies consistently up and running is essential to our students’ learning experience and focus,” Gabrielsen said.

Third recipient, the Edna Adan Hospital Foundation in Somaliland, will give the Chargers to the midwives they train.

“By bringing solar chargers to midwives in rural, nomadic, drought-affected communities, we expect morbidity and mortality of infants, children and their mothers to decrease,” said founder Edna Adan.

“We are honored to work with these amazing partners and provide them with the tools they need to do their important work,” said Megan Birney, president of Unite to Light.

“Our Buy One, Give One model allows us to provide chargers for camping or emergency kits to our customers here, while supporting the missions of some of our favorite nonprofits around the world,” she said.

By Megan Birney for Unite to Light 

For for more information, visit www.UnitetoLight.org.

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