​Piedmont global charity Lantern Projects still going strong after 20 years

By Lou Fancher

It’s striking how often adults retired from professional life attribute their newfound passion and activism to encounters during their careers with young people.

In the case of former Piedmont Unified School District Superintendent Gail Uilkema and Lantern Projects, the grassroots nonprofit she founded in 2003 to raise funds for small projects around the world, credit goes to a group of U.S. students and the $10 lanterns for which they raised funds.

The lanterns were delivered to Kenyan students whose school lacked electricity. With the Kenyan students’ eagerness to study illuminated — and the American students’ philanthropic impulses lit up — multiple lives, including that of Uilkema, were transformed.

In the two decades since then, Lantern Projects has received more than $2.5 million in donations, all of which has been and is being used for intended projects. That in itself is unique, but there are other admirable elements: Uilkema accepts no anonymous requests but works entirely with known contacts who sign agreements to dedicate all of the funds received to their intended projects.

Verification comes in the form of photographs and receipts but also directly, because many of the contacts are people with whom Uilkema has worked with for 10 years or more. Wherever possible, materials or items are purchased in each project’s location, which benefits the local economy and avoids shipping costs and conflicts.

Tax-deductible donations are welcome in any amount, a feature well-suited for individuals or family, club and school groups that participate. A project Uilkema most likes to highlight arose early in a recent interview.

“One of the primary goals when I started was to introduce philanthropy to young children,” she said. “I wanted them to understand that even 30 cents will buy pencils. Years ago there was a project with an Oakland school for toothbrushes in Ecuador. I had an empty Cream of Wheat box in which they collected their pennies.

“They filled it and added two toothbrushes when they sent it to me. They felt wonderful because at one of the poorest schools in Oakland, they knew they could make a difference. The giving they did cycled around to benefit them.”

The giving boost isn’t exclusive to children, Uilkema attests. She says what’s rewarding for adults who donate is that most projects address immediate needs while also offering long-term benefits via job training, skill building or items that continue to hold value, such as bicycles for young farm children to take their goods to local markets.

“A good example is a project in Kenya,” she says. “I’ve worked with the same woman there for at least 10 years. She’s expanded her orphanage with a sewing program. We provide the machines and the material. It’s a rigorous 9-month training program, and one idea I like is that there’s value throughout.

“They make sanitary kits with reusable wallets in which there are three pads girls and women can use during their menstruation cycles. They also make the school’s uniforms. They’re learning skills that will benefit them later and also benefit the school and orphanage. Graduates can set up a sewing business in their homes.”

Another remarkable feature of the organization is its speed. Uilkema’s feet-on-the-ground contacts and the projects’ limited reliance on shipping provide resources rapidly. With Uilkema and her two-person volunteer board, Lantern Projects was able to respond instantly to the magnitude 6.8-magnitued earthquake Sept. 8 that hit Morocco and Cameroon’s floods in early October.

“When there’s a disaster, in dozens of countries I know the situation and how to get resources there fast. I can zero in on something quickly, because of all my contacts over 20 years.”

Adults and groups such as Rotary clubs can earmark donations for specific countries or categories.

“My goal from the beginning has been to provide funding for small projects around the world. There are many other organizations that focus exclusively on the U.S. I advise people to find a local project I support or choose one of those other organizations. It’s been only a handful of people who ask specifically about the U.S, but most are interested in funding specific projects involving a certain country — such as their ancestral country of origin — or providing for food, clothing, medical supplies or technology.”

The latter shows up in several forms, such as a collaborative project with Lafayette-based Trust in Education that sends digital tablets loaded with educational software along with solar battery packs to power devices for school girls in Afghanistan. Another project sends SIM cards to refugee camps in Greece.

“A woman from Oakland travels there to deliver the cards so refugees can use them in cell phones to file papers they need or keep in touch with family members. She says refugees are pouring in daily and was working on her own, but this year we funded a project for SIM cards.”

Donations remained strong during the pandemic, and funds raised have increased every year, Uilkema says. The armed conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have caused money to come in recently, likely due to increased interest in humanitarian aid to the areas.

Uilkema says young people’s awareness of the impact of climate change has also generated two recent projects; one involving students in Tanzania concerned about the illegal ivory trade and the other involving a middle school in London that has added Lantern Projects to their curriculum.

“The students in Tanzania organized a conservation club. They’ve taken it upon themselves to write papers, give programs at schools and talk about the importance of protecting elephants,” she says. “In London, as part of the curriculum, each year, each student in the seventh grade level makes a lantern with balsa wood and tissue paper.

“They have to figure out the geometry and how to construct it. They put small electric lights in them, then go on the website and choose a project. They do research: Why was there a flood? Why do certain students need uniforms?
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“They write a report on why they chose the project and its importance. And then all three classes do a Lantern walk and collect money to support their projects.”