Send Luke Lights to REACH For Uganda Schools
Donate here in lieu of attending the Mike Love Benefit Concert!
Unite to Light, in partnership with REACH for Uganda, is hosting a benefit concert in Santa Barbara to send Luke Lights to REACH For Uganda schools. We understand some supporters outside Santa Barbara will not be able to make the trip. We are using this online platform for those who would like to contribute from afar. Thank you for lighting the world with us. Read more about the history and connections that created this special event below:
Unite to Light and Reach For Uganda first partnered in 2022, thanks to a Peace Corps connection made in Uganda 55 years ago among Dave Loveless, Harvey Shapiro and Dick Burk — Peace Corps volunteers from the U.S. — Dave and Harvey met Sylvia and Janet from Yorkshire, England. Dave and Sylvia married, as did Harvey and Janet. The two couples now both reside in California. Dick has been President of REACH For Uganda since 2008.
When Dave and Harvey were teaching, their Ugandan school children were using kerosene candles and lamps to study in homes without any electricity. The children suffered eye damage and burns. The group of Peace Corps friends are troubled that students are still using harmful kerosene lamps to study, even 55 years later. They want to give Ugandan students another option and asked Dave and Sylvia’s son, Mike Love, if he would help by playing a benefit concert to raise funds to send solar-powered Luke Lights to REACH schools in Uganda. Unite to Light will match up to 1,000 Luke Lights (for a total of 2,000) for REACH schools to create "Light Libraries". Students will check out the solar lights and use them for homework. When the students are finished, they will return the light to the school for the next student to use.
The schools’ founders, John and Joyce Wanda, both grew up in Uganda without electricity or even teachers at times. After immigrating to the U.S., they found the American school system to be far different than the school system they experienced in their home country. Wanting to make a difference, the couple founded REACH For Uganda in 2004.
REACH For Uganda partners with communities in rural eastern Uganda to transform the quality of their daily life and realize their future potential through improved education, healthcare, and community development. They support 26 primary schools, offer 520 secondary, university and vocational scholarships, operate two medical clinics and are now constructing a high-quality secondary and vocational school.
In 2022 Unite to Light sent a small shipment of Luke Light to establish a series of Light Libraries at the REACH primary schools. After being away from school for two years because of COVID-19 closures, they needed every moment to study so they could catch up on their education. Each of the students in primary schools in 2022 received a Luke Light that allowed them to study through the evening at their homes. Parents told John and Joyce how helpful these lights were and what a joy it was to use them. The REACH primary students not only performed best in the district yet again, but also produced the best performance ever in the history of the school. John and Joyce are convinced the Luke Lights made a difference.
Just $10 sends a Luke Light that will help countless students succeed at REACH for Uganda schools. $1000 provides an entire Light Library. Join us in making a difference!