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Organization: Solar Cookers International

Based in: United States,   US EIN #: 68-0153141 add to cart Request Info

Quick Facts

Solar Cookers International assists communities to use the power of the sun to cook food and pasteurize water for the benefit of people and environments.

Our vision for the year 2020 is: self-sustaining access to solar cooking in three countries and wide public awareness of the usefulness of solar cookers in five others.

Focus Areas: Children, Disaster Relief, Education, Environment, Health, Human Rights, Poverty
Countries Served: Ethiopia
Kenya
Chad
United States
Zimbabwe

Background

Date Founded: 1987
Number of Staff: 14

Description of Services:
SCI has four program areas.

1. International Program Development empowers local women, their families and communities to benefit from free solar energy for cooking and pasteurizing water.

2. Advocacy, SCI works with other solar cooking promoters to build awareness and support for solar cooking and solar water pasteurization.

4. The Educational Resources program compiles solar cooking and solar water pasteurization information, and shares that information with individuals and organizations worldwide.

5. The Humanitarian Assistance programs, in partnership with other relief agencies, have assisted refugees in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Chad with solar cooking tools, training, and follow-up services.
History:
Based in Sacramento, California since 1987, SCI opened an office in Nairobi in 1998 to serve eastern Africa. In the last eighteen years, Solar Cookers International has provided unique services as an international clearinghouse for solar cooker information, facilitating information exchange and networking among thousands of independent solar cooker experts and advocates worldwide. SCI responds to over a thousand inquiries per year, providing technical consultation tailored to individual needs. SCI has sponsored several international and regional conferences on solar cookers and was co-sponsor of the 2006 International Solar Cooker Conference in Granada, Spain.
Accomplishments & Progress:
SCI?s refugee camp projects empowered 25,000 families in camps in Kenya and Ethiopia between 1995 and 2003. Recent reports from Zimbabwe indicate that 40,000 cookers have been sold in the vicinity of Harare and Bulawayo since 1998. For 19 years, SCI has pioneered innovations in solar cooker technology and dissemination processes. SCI is now recognized as the leading source of information on solar cooking and solar water pasteurization worldwide. We have documented high acceptance, health benefits, and fuel savings averaging one-third.

Quality Check

2 Group Affiliations
Group Verification Status
InterAction Verified
UN (United Nations) Waiting verification
Financial Information   Verified
Year 2007 2006 2005
Total Revenue: $912,929 $860,759 $620,595
Expenses:      
        Program Services Expenses: $717,625
(77% of total)
$634,707
(74% of total)
$473,826
(70% of total)
        Management & General Expenses: $58,629
(6% of total)
$57,884
(7% of total)
$60,505
(9% of total)
        Fundraising Expenses: $161,533
(17% of total)
$162,835
(19% of total)
$139,322
(21% of total)
        Total Expenses: $937,787 $855,426 $673,653

Additional Information

Additional Background Information:
SCI led the development of two practical and inexpensive innovations:

THE COOKIT

Food is easily and conveniently cooked with solar energy as the "fuel" in solar cookers wherever there are predictable hours of sun many days of the year. Solar cookers are clean, convenient, and non-polluting. SCI?s solar CooKit represents a breakthrough in the affordability solar cookers, allowing local production and commercial distribution. The CooKit can save two tons of wood over its two-year average life, reducing a family?s fuel needs and exposure to indoor air pollution, using freely available solar energy.

THE WAPI

The concept that waterborne pathogens are killed at temperatures well below boiling is largely unknown. Pasteurizing water in a solar cooker to 65oC is sufficient to kill the viruses, bacteria, worms and protozoa which cause waterborne diseases. Solar water pasteurization represents a sustainable approach to addressing a major health threat in developing countries.

Local Partners:
Nonprofit Resource Center, Sacramento
Sacramento Community Regional Foundation
Sacramento Zoo
Sacramento Area Earth Day Network
Additional Affiliations:
United Nations affiliated NGO

Officers & Board

President:
Patrick Widner
Executive Director Email: patrick@solarcookers.org
Phone: 916-455-4499
Development Director:
Michael Hayes
Resource Coordinator
Email: michael@solarcookers.org
Phone: 916-455-4499
Volunteer Coordinator:
Katie Sisay
Office Manager & Marketing Coordinator
Email: katie@solarcookers.org
Phone: 916-455-4499
Board of Directors and Board of Advisors:
Dick Cochran
President

Jack Blanks
Vice President

John Collentine, JD

Bob Metcalf, PhD
Treasurer

Ann Bennett
Secretary

Gabriele Simbriger-Williams At large

Joyce Hightower, MD

Joseph Huma

Dawit Tadesse, PhD

Christine Nyanda-Chacha

Virginie Mitchem

Bruce Stahlberg, PE

Michael Mora, LEC

Edye Kuyper

Susan Corbett

Patrick Widner
Executive Director
Solar Cookers International

Contact Information

Address:
1919 21st Street
Suite 101
Sacramento , California 95811
United States
Phone: 916-455-4499
Fax: 916-455-4498
Email: info@solarcookers.org
Web: http://solarcookers.org

Photos

The Oywa CooKit
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Nyakach, Kenya
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CooKit demonstration for Darfur refugees in Chad
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Making CooKits
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Solar Cookers in Kajiado, Kenya
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Solar Cookers in action
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