The Billions in Change Foundation, Manoj Bhargava’s Stage 2 Innovations, and the Non-profit Good360 collaborate to Bring Mobile Electricity to Puerto Rico
The Billions in Change Foundation has launched Energize-Mobilize: Puerto Rico, a public campaign to bring off-the-grid mobile electricity to the island through both cash contributions and in-kind donations of portable energy devices, namely the HANS™ PowerPack 300 (featuring a 300-watt lithium-ion battery, built-in lights, USB port, and 4.5-watt solar panel) and the HANS™ Solar BriefCase 60 (a fold-up 60-watt solar panel designed to recharge the HANS™ PowerPack 300).
Featured in Manoj Bhargava’s 2017 documentary Billions in Change 2, the HANS™ PowerPack 300 and HANS™ Solar BriefCase 60 are creations of S2 Equipment (Stage 2), Bhargava’s Michigan-based invention shop. Stage 2’s mission is to develop useful products to benefit humanity in the areas of energy, water, and health.
The Energize-Mobilize: Puerto Rico campaign is a joint initiative among the Billions in Change Foundation, Stage 2, and the nonprofit Good360, which is working with on-the-ground charities in Puerto Rico to distribute highly needed products to hurricane victims.
“The HANS™ PowerPack and HANS™ Solar BriefCase were initially designed to help the unlucky half of the world,” explained Bhargava, the entrepreneur-turned-philanthropist best known for having created the wildly successful 5-hour ENERGY® shots. “But once we had the devices and saw what they could do, it was obvious that they would be extremely useful in the event of an emergency or natural disaster,” Bhargava said.
More than seven months after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico sparking the longest blackout in US history, the island’s electric grid continues to prove fragile and unreliable. Recent islandwide outages are among a series of setbacks to the massive effort to restore power, a sign that energy access for Puerto Ricans remains tenuous.
“Billions in Change has received hundreds of messages over the past several months from concerned citizens wanting to know how they can donate the HANS™ devices to Puerto Rico,” said Bhargava. “Now is their chance.”
Through Stage 2’s Energize-Mobilize: Puerto Rico campaign webpage, donors may purchase and donate a HANS™ PowerPack 300 to the Billions in Change Foundation for distribution by Good360 in Puerto Rico. The entire purchase price of each donated HANS™ PowerPack 300 ($429) is tax-deductible to the donor.
Stage 2 pledges that for each HANS™ PowerPack 300 purchased for donation as part of the Energize-Mobilize: Puerto Rico campaign, Stage 2 will donate a matching HANS™ Solar BriefCase 60 (valued at $329) for distribution in Puerto Rico.
To kick off the Energize-Mobilize: Puerto Rico campaign, Stage 2 has made an initial donation to Good360 of 50 HANS™ PowerPack 300 and 50 HANS™ Solar BriefCase 60.
Stage 2 has set an initial campaign goal of 100 HANS™ PowerPack 300 units donated through its campaign website. When donors hit that milestone, Stage 2 commits to donating an additional 100 HANS™ PowerPack 300 and 100 HANS™ Solar BriefCase 60 to the Billions in Change Foundation for distribution by Good360 in Puerto Rico.
“The power grid problems in Puerto Rico aren’t going away anytime soon,” said Bhargava. “Even if the rest of the island is dark, the HANS™ devices will ensure that a family’s lights stay on, their cell phones stay charged, and they stay connected to important information via laptop, TV, or radio,” Bhargava said.
Good360’s CEO, Howard Sherman commented, “Our focus on long-term disaster recovery work is made possible by collaborative partnerships like this one with the Billions in Change Foundation and Stage 2. Our goal is to get the right products to the right people at the right time throughout all phases of a disaster and since reliable power continues to be a challenge for communities in Puerto Rico, this program will help fill a critical gap now more than six months after the storms.”
Bhargava believes Energize-Mobilize: Puerto Rico is a campaign model that can be replicated elsewhere, especially given the predictable groundswell of public support in the aftermath of catastrophic events.
“The future will have no shortage of natural disasters and people are always looking for practical ways to help,” Bhargava said.
Through donations of the HANS™ PowerPack 300 and HANS™ Solar BriefCase 60 Energize-Mobilize: Puerto Rico gives the public an opportunity to bolster recovery efforts while building resilience for the next storm.
To participate visit www.billionsinchangefoundation.org or HANSpowernet.com/energize-mobilize/.
About the Billions in Change Foundation
The Billions in Change Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity that engages with philanthropists, foundations, corporations, and non-profit organizations whose interests align with the mission of the Billions in Change Movement. That mission is to improve life for the unlucky half of the world with useful inventions that provide clean water, reliable electricity, nutritious food, and better health. Specifically, the Foundation raises money, forms partnerships, and makes grants to other charitable organizations whose activities directly address problems related to energy, water, and health. The Foundation also supports organizations that seek to invent, create, and implement solutions to those problems. The Foundation is part of the Billions in Change movement, which has promoted two short documentary films discussing global problems related to water, energy, and healthcare. Learn more at https://billionsinchangefoundation.org.
About HANS™ Products
The HANS™ family of products provides pollution-free and expense-free electricity generation. S2 Equipment, LLC (Stage 2), in Farmington Hills, Michigan is the developer of HANS™ products and is focused on providing reliable energy and clean water. The Stage 2 team supports the Billions in Change movement in their quest to bring useful inventions to the unlucky half of the world in order to improve quality of life for billions of people.
About Good360
Good360’s mission is to transform lives by providing hope, dignity, and a sense of renewed possibility to individuals, families, and communities impacted by disasters or other challenging life circumstances who, without us, would struggle to find that hope. As the global leader in product philanthropy and purposeful giving, we partner with socially responsible companies to source highly needed goods and distribute them through our network of diverse nonprofits that support people in need. Good360 has distributed more than $9 billion in donated goods around the world, helping its network of more than 60,000 prequalified nonprofits strengthen communities and improve the lives of millions. Good360 is proud to partner with corporate donors such as Walmart, UPS, CVS Health Foundation, Nike, IKEA, Sears, Home Depot, Grainger, 3M, Mattel, Crayola, Gap, Inc., ANN INC., Williams-Sonoma, and Hilton. Good360 is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity. Learn more at https://www.good360.org.