Shine a Light on Education Fundraiser in New York City

Shine a Light on Education Fundraiser in New York City

Uniting Distant Stars made its debut in the Big Apple with the well-organized efforts of Adam Pederson, Board Secretary. He worked with a friend to host a fundraiser on October 19 from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM in Manhattan’s East Village. He found donated items such as African Art and modern abstract paintings for the silent auction. There was also a raffle draw for prizes of wine and champagne. The event offered free wine and hors d’oeuvres.


These photos show the various donated items for the silent auction. Photos by Adam Pederson

The goal of this fundraiser was $5,000 for our solar power initiative. Adam secured an anonymous $2,500 matching the gift to encourage people to donate and double their impact. This event was a huge success by raising $5,292…an exceeded goal! There were about 30 people who participated in this event and who brought more awareness to our vocational training program in Liberia. 

We will continue working with solar professionals in both Liberia and Minnesota to coordinate the next steps. The goal is not only to install solar panels but to have our electrician students help with the installation. All of UDS is overjoyed with making this strategic goal a reality.

Many Thanks to our new and continued supporters that contributed to helping Liberian Youth obtain marketable and valuable skills in trade careers!!!

Empowering Youth with Solar Power Initiative

Empowering Youth with Solar Power Initiative

One of our greatest challenges in Liberia is reliable electricity. We are connected to a grid in our community, but the main transformer has had several power outages and surges that force us to use our backup generator. This increases our monthly electricity expenses and damaged some of our equipment. 

In January 2018, we visited one of our supporters at Maddy and Harri Wegner’s farm in Carver, Minnesota. Harri installed 150 solar panels and this supports his farming operation.  Our Liberian team–Kelvin Fomba, Dominic Siafa, and Dauda Dassin joined via Google Hangout. His solar panels are part of the grid, and he sells solar energy to the electrical company. He shared his knowledge about solar and how it is better to be on a grid instead of a battery pack because the latter loses more energy. He mentioned that micro-grids could be an option to take advantage of more efficient energy use.

Heather Cannon with Harri as he explained the solar panel installation

On June 22, we held our strategic planning meeting, and solar became our number one priority. Our goal is not only to install solar panels at our center in Liberia but also to certify and train our electrician students and recent graduates to be technicians in this renewable energy field. If you having any contacts working with solar panels, please connect them with us. Thank you!

Become a Classroom Hero and DONATE today to support the vocational training of Liberia Youth!