What we do locally makes a global impact

If you’ve worked with Orphan Grain Train you may be familiar with Luci Lights, a variety of solar lights by MPowerd that they’ve raised funds for and have shipped all over the world to help in various emergency situations.

That’s where I first heard about them; when Brian, our virtual assistant who lives outside Nairobi, Kenya, came on board I knew I wanted to send some to him.

Rolling blackouts are a constant. Many people use kerosene lamps which have inherent risks to health for respiratory issues and also can result in devastating fires.

As a test, we bought 6 lights and started looking for shipping options and travelers who might be able to carry the lights to Nairobi.

We were lucky to find Sharon Runge, Founder and Exec Dir of Kenya Connect.

She packed the lights and met up with Brian in Nairobi.

Brian shared a light with his mother, Jennifer, for her school. He will share one with Moses, a teacher who reached out to GNG for assistance for his students. Brian is pursuing marketing these well-crafted, light weight solar lights to sporting goods stores.

GNG has purchased 24 lights for Brian to donate and sell as he pursues building a distribution business around the lights in Kenya. We are exploring options for shipping the case of lights we have or sending them with other travelers to the area.

We welcome anyone interested in helping with this to reach out to us at julie@goodneighborsgroup.org.