Billions in Change Foundation Launches Joint Initiative to Address Ongoing Power Issues in Puerto Rico

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., May 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Billions in Change Foundation has launched Energize-Mobilize: Puerto Rico, a campaign to bring mobile electricity to Puerto Rico through both cash contributions and in-kind donations of portable energy devices, namely the HANS™ PowerPack 300 and the HANS™ Solar BriefCase 60.

Featured in Manoj Bhargava's 2017 documentary Billions in Change 2, the HANS™ products are creations of S2 Equipment (Stage 2), Bhargava's Michigan-based invention shop.

"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 popular 5-hour ENERGY® shots. "But once we saw what the devices could do, it was obvious that they would be extremely useful in the event of a 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.

Through Stage 2's Energize-Mobilize: Puerto Rico campaign webpage, donors may purchase a HANS™ PowerPack 300 for donation to the Billions in Change Foundation for distribution in Puerto Rico by Good360, which works with vetted charities to deliver donated goods to those in need. 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 donated 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.

Stage 2 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."

SOURCE Billions in Change