Provide solar lanterns to poor school children

Dear Friends,

Thanks to your generous donation we have been able to order 48 cases (2304 pcs) of solar lanterns from our supplier in China. We have just learned that these lanterns will ship on March 4. We expect that our shipping agent in Baltimore will have them in early April, and from there they will go to the Salvation Army warehouse for Washington, DC, which will store them for us at no cost.

Our plan is to distribute the lanterns to school children in poor or remote villages, and to their families, using a variety of methods that incur no additional cost to the organization. The first is travelers. We have a number of partners that travel to countries where there is a great need for these lanterns. One, for example, is the McClean Bible Church, whose members have carried our lanterns in their suitcases to Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. We are looking forward to learning where they plan to go next. We also have arrangements with two shippers in the area who will ship two to four cases of lanterns at a time to Senegal and the Gambia also at no additional cost to us. In both these countries we have networks who will further distribute them in poor and remote villages. Additionally, we have recently made contact with two local philanthropists who have roots in Cameroon and Liberia respectively. Both have the capability of getting the lanterns to poor villages in their countries, again at no additonal cost to us. In these ways, we show our respect for your donations and squeeze every last penny of value out of every dollar donated.