Feel Good Friday - LuminAID

Let's start our Feel Good Friday post with something that doesn't feel very good. 

Imagine the electricity in your town has been knocked out by a natural disaster or perhaps you don't have reliable electricity in your town to begin with. According to the Bible, "God said, "Let there be light," and there was light." Easy for him to say but what are the rest of us supposed to do? 


Enter LuminAid, a solar-powered, waterproof, inflatable light created by college students Anna Stork and Andrea Sreshta as a disaster relief solution in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.  After graduating, they launched a wildly successful Indiegogo campaign, which raised 5 times their original goal of $10,000! 


The lights pack flat so you can ship 50 LuminAID lights in the same space it would take for 8 conventional flashlights, making it a great addition to disaster relief packages.

So what if you live in a city where electricity is plentiful? Well, how about supplementing your earthquake preparedness kit (or whatever kind of kit you have if you don't live in California)? You can also take it on your next camping trip!

Here's the best part. LuminAID has a "Give Light, Get Light" program. You can buy a light for yourself, donate a light or get a discount when you do both. As they explain on their website, "we partner with NGOs and non-profits all over the world to distribute LuminAID Lights to individuals who will greatly benefit from a safe, rechargeable light source." 

They've been profiled by many different news sources and you can watch those videos here or you can read the origin story in Anna's own words on the Huffington Post. There's also a Facebook page.

I just ordered a light for myself and one for the Pencils of Promise program in Ghana. When it arrives, I'll be ready for a power outage or perhaps a trip to Yosemite!