Our Partners
Every Luke Light brightens someone’s life. Three together in a hut illuminate more than one. It takes a village to do almost anything. Certainly to light the world.
These partners have been with Luke’s Lights every step of the way. From the moment catastrophe befell our life. They are torchbearers, one and all.
Unite to Light
Unite to Light helped us start it all. The original LED light was created at the University of Santa Barbara Institute for Energy Efficiency. When our family was desperate for a place to channel our grief, we joined forces with Unite to Light. The bright light was named after Luke (we honestly did not know his name meant “light” when we chose it for him… but that’s a different story.) We lovingly created a logo for Unite to Light, designed the brown kraft box and the all-together-holding-up-the-sky illustration, held our breath and broken hearts and …. launched full-force to conquer darkness.
Unite to Light produces the Luke Light. They are the caretakers, the order-processors, the shippers, and grant-writers and chief do-everythingers. I sit on the board of Unite to Light with a committed team of big-hearted humans who embody Luke’s Do Bigger spirit.
We Villages
WE Villages has deeply impacted our family’s life. When Gisela created B.toys 10¢ of every toy sale was donated to WE to help adopt villages in the developing world. The VK5—Gisela, Dan, Luke, Sydney and Rio—traveled to Kenya with WE to help build a school in the Maasai Mara. This family trip was so transformative Gisela joined the board of what was then FreeTheChildren. Of course we remembered the dung huts Kenyan families lived in, dark even in broad daylight. That’s the first place Luke Lights went to in memory of Luke and our time there together. Since then, we have taken Haiti into our hearts. Seven trips later, helping light the way out of poverty for children and families in WE Haiti villages is now part of our DNA. We have brought thousands of lights (and hundreds of B. toys) to Haiti. And proudly erected solar panels on one of the village schools and thus completely transformed the surrounding villages.
Battat
For decades Gisela created successful toys with Battat, most proudly the B.toys brand from scratch. Every detail, even the garbage, was designed lovingly. (Really, there are “B. good. B.smart. Recycle Me” messages molded into the plastic packaging). When she could no longer be Chief Toymaker because a bereaved mother cannot design toys, Gisela walked away knowing Battat would care for her creations and continue the partnership with WE. Battat has quietly and consistently—and heroically— been building villages with WE. Entire schools, water wells, and vegetable gardens.
Last year, Battat donated to Luke’s Lights their manufacturing, engineering, tooling and testing expertise for the manufacturing of a new-and-improved Luke Light—now stronger, waterproof and with an auto-off function that conserves battery power. We are working together on having the Luke Light be Lighting Global certified so that international NGOs will be able to buy it.