From their official website www.linkinpark.com LINKIN PARK is asking supporters of Music For Relief (MFR) to give the gift of light, and help provide a solar powered light bulb to families in Haiti this holiday.
1.3 billion people in the world have no access to electricity. Without electricity, a child cannot study after dark, parents cannot work once the sun goes down and clinics cannot offer life-saving medical help.
To help, Linkin Park fans are encouraged to go to www.powertheworld.org. With each $10 donation, Music For Relief will provide one solar powered light bulb to a family in Haiti who does not have access to electricity. The donor will receive a custom holiday card to print or email to a friend or loved one on their list. The solar light bulbs you donate are renewable energy tools that reduce health and fire risks associated with candles or kerosene. By lighting their homes with solar powered bulbs, families improve their quality of life enabling children to study, families to read, and all to feel safe and healthy.
"We chose Haiti for this project because the country faces severe energy poverty," says Linkin Park lead vocalist Mike Shinoda. "There are 34 million people in the Western Hemisphere who have no access to modern energy; 8 million of them are in Haiti. By helping Haiti we can make a huge impact, so it's a great place to start."
Linkin Park is also asking supporters to share Power the World this holiday to let friends and family know that there are clean energy solutions and that they can help. The band hopes that having its fans share the message will encourage action from the governments, large companies and non-governmental organizations that can make an enormous impact in solving this problem.
Power the World is a pledge to help 1 million families gain access to sustainable energy solutions. Last month, Linkin Park pledged their support of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's Sustainable Energy For All initiative.
To that end, the band and their non-profit organization Music for Relief have partnered with UN Foundation and EarthSpark International to bring clean energy solutions to families without energy access beginning in Haiti through Enèji Pwòp (Clean Energy in Haitian Creole).
Enèji Pwòp was created by EarthSpark International, a United Nations Program (UNEP) partner, to build supply chains and business practices to support small-scale clean energy entrepreneurs in Haiti. Low-cost, efficient and renewable energy technologies such as the solar light bulb, will save money for Haitians over time and reduce health and environmental risks associated with fire and kerosene.