When your heart’s bigger than your wallet, it can be hard to pick a cause to donate your money to. How do you decide where to put your limited resources? Luckily, supporting your community can come in many shapes and forms. It’s worth noting that the well-being of the environment, kids, animals, and so on is all interconnected. Put your energy into one organization, and all will still benefit. One of our favorites to sponsor is Chances for Children. This charity’s goal is to “encourage the movement of a community from survival, to stability, to sustainability”.

We believe in being a good corporate citizen, and this dedication to social responsibility is a value that runs deep in Arcadia Solar. We want to work with people who are making the world a better place. Our nonprofit organization, The Arcadia Foundation, works with others to help boost their efforts. Chances for Children devotes their efforts to supporting the children of Haiti, through everything from medical care to education.

Chances for Children goes through local pastors to be able to first address basic needs. When a community has clean water, food, and medical care, then they are able to move past survival mode to stability. Now families can start to provide these basic needs for themselves with tools supplied and skills taught by this organization. Finally, they will get to the sustainability stage. Families will be able to completely provide for themselves and teach these skills to their children, cementing their future.

Craig and Kathi Juntunen had wanted to help the children of Haiti for a while. They knew how hard the country and its people had been hit by instability and natural disasters. They adopted kids, but wanted to make an even greater impact on the community. Soon enough, they founded Chances for Children and over the years the effect they have has continued to grow. They have been able to fund schools and electricity, as well as get water purification systems installed. After the earthquake in 2010, they delivered more than 46,000 pounds of food, medicine, and other supplies to Haiti. They employ almost 200 people at this point, working hard alongside churches to improve conditions for communities all across the country.

Their mission inspires hope, and we knew we had to contribute. One of the best ways was to use our experience and donate solar panels. These power the crèche (orphanage), the medical clinic, and the work area for the seamstresses. Before using solar energy, these buildings had a generator. Unfortunately, with the gas shortage in Haiti they were closed down for a few months. The solar array will improve conditions for everyone who works and lives in these buildings, as well as being better for the environment.

Stewardship is one of our company’s core values that is closest to our hearts. We remind ourselves: “As a clean energy provider, we are focused on conserving our planet. As a family company, we are attentive to the needs of our employees and customers. And as a socially responsible business, we strive to secure a better future for underprivileged communities through our charitable efforts.” Thanks to our customers, we have been able to get involved with organizations like Chances for Children and make a bigger impact than we could have on our own.

If you would like to join us in supporting Chances for Children, you can find out how to volunteer here or donate here. And if you’re already a customer, thank you for purchasing solar from us so that your money can go toward deserving causes like this one. We hope other businesses will join us in making sure our corporate citizenship is put toward worthwhile goals. Being a good steward is important, especially when we have more than enough to share – just as Chances for Children has been proving for years. We are grateful to be able to unite with people who share our values when it comes to doing good in the world. Thank you, Craig and Kathi Juntunen, and all of you who are ready to reach out and give to others.