52 Weeks of Giving --- Week 12 ------- Make Bracelets for Fifty Lanterns

Today the girls made bracelets at WBUUC as part of Social Action Sunday.  During two weeks in March, the church does different social action projects.  This week, the girls joined other children in first through sixth grade to make bracelets that would be sold to raise money for Fifty Lanterns International.  The bracelets were sold during social hour for $5 each.

Girl with a solar lantern she received.

(Photo from 50 Lanterns website)

Sophia was able to make three bracelets and Olivia made one bracelet during the assembly time.  By the end of the social hour, their bracelets had sold which meant that $20 had been raised for Fifty Lanterns International.  We also purchased one bracelet that another child made so the girls and I helped contribute $25 towards the organization.

According to its website, Fifty Lanterns International is a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization that partners with established humanitarian groups to provide communities in the developing world tools that provide safety and opportunity through renewable energy sources such as solar-power lights.

They bring light where there is none. The donation of a solar lantern can rid a home of toxic and expensive kerosene, and the risk of a deadly fire. With the extended day that the solar light gives a family, children may do their school work, daily activities can be completed after sunset, and homes around the world are lit by the warmth of people's generosity.

Lanterns being distributed by Fifty Lanterns.

(Photo from Fifty Lanterns website)

$50 buys one lantern, so the girls were excited to know that by making bracelets and purchasing one, they basically were half way towards a lantern.

Solar lights have many benefits.  They:
• Redirect family spending from kerosene to food, clothing, medicine or school fees
• Provide light for income-generating activities like sewing or weaving;

• Allow children to read and study in the evenings;


• Reduce deforestation caused by burning wood or charcoal;


• Eliminate both the health and safety risks of kerosene lighting;
• Provide a dependable, non-polluting source of light for many years.

Woman who received a solar lantern.

(Photo from Fifty Lanterns website)