“Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” 

During times of crisis, this quote from Fred Rogers (better known as Mr. Rogers) always rings true. Whether the crisis is an earthquake, a hurricane, or a pandemic, there are always those who step up to help. We’re honored to have had the opportunity to work with many amazing helpers over the past 10 years, and that LuminAID lanterns have been able to help them bring light to those in need.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis that calls for a different type of response than a hurricane or an earthquake, we're proud to see people mobilizing to help those who are vulnerable and to keep each other safe, healthy, and fed. We are grateful to frontline healthcare workers, as well as restaurant, grocery, and delivery workers, and everyone who is staying home right now and practicing social distancing.

Here at LuminAID, we started working from home earlier this month and we are continuing to check in with our customers, partners, and vendors. We’re a small business, and we expect things will get tough before they get better, but we also want to be there for our community and actively seek out new ways to help. We’ve put together some ideas, and wanted to share them with you, our community, as well.

There are many ways to help in a time like this, and staying at home with your family and practicing social distancing is an important and meaningful way to help keep others safe. You can also find ways to help your community from home.

Here are three ideas for ways to help in your community while staying home:

Many of the nonprofits who deploy with our lights to provide emergency medical aid, meals, and supplies after disasters are now on the frontlines of COVID-19 working to provide treatment, medical supplies, or nutritious meals.

Here are 5 amazing organizations that you can donate to today:

Disaster relief is at the core of our company mission, as LuminAID’s solar lantern technology was created after the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. Unfortunately, natural disasters won’t stop just because we’re facing another crisis, and many nonprofits who will step up to respond when they are needed are going to be facing additional financial and operational challenges due to the current situation.  

We're so grateful to the individual and corporate supporters who sponsor lights through our Give Light, Get Light Program. These gifts of lights are meaningful at any time, but we expect them to become particularly impactful as we approach Wildfire Season and Hurricane Season in a few months. We are working to be prepared to help nonprofits respond quickly with solar lanterns and phone chargers where they are needed, and your support of our Give Light, Get Light program will help us send more lights when there is a need.

You can help by sponsoring lights for Disaster Relief through our Give Light, Get Light program: