The BoGo flashlight is named for maker SunNight Solar's "Buy one, give one" approach. The Houston, Texas, company gives away a light to someone in a developing area for each $25 light sold online. SunNight sold $1 million in flashlights last year. Corporations have donated tens of thousands for use in refugee camps. Next, founder Mark Bent plans to sell the lights through the Web sites of cooperating nonprofit groups.
He served for 14 years as a State Department diplomat. Work took him to Bosnia, Somalia, Angola, Iraq, and Mogadishu. In Asmara, Eritrea, the idea for making a flashlight came after he realized that local people were left in the dark once the sun set.
"I'm working in Africa for all these years and didn't know it was a problem because I lived in a compound as a diplomat," Bent said. "This whole new concept of social entrepreneurship is the coolest thing ever because we can make money doing the right thing."
Photo by SunNight Solar
Caption by Elsa Wenzel
