Renew Crew awarded grant from the Clinton Global Initiative University
June 4, 2009
Renew Crew , Penn State's student chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association, received an Outstanding Commitment Award in the area of Energy and Climate Change from the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI U) to help fund installation of a solar electric system.
"In spring 2010, the Renew Crew, a team of Pennsylvania State University undergraduates, will install a solar electric system on a local nonprofit medical clinic in Roatan, Honduras, an island just off the mainland. A year earlier, this team collaboratively installed a 2.5 kW, grid-tied solar electric system on Roatan’s Sandy Bay Alternative School. In partnership with the school’s principal, Renew Crew members created interactive activities and lessons to teach students about solar energy, the photovoltaic system, and the myriad of opportunities that a college education can provide.
The Renew Crew plans to return every year over Spring Break to Honduras to install a community-focused system, with the short term plans of staying in Roatan and long-term goals of extending to the mainland, through connections between the electrical contractors and other humanitarian groups in Honduras. Additionally, this group is investigating a potential collaborative effort with the Coxen Hole, Roatan campus of the Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras for 2010 or 2011, which will help further the community and education-focused approach to the Renew Crew, as well as create an educational connection with the campuses of the mainland." From the CGI U website)
About the CGU U
"Building on the successful model of the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings together world leaders to take action on global challenges, President Clinton launched the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world.
CGI U is a growing community of young leaders who don't just discuss the world's challenges -- they take real, concrete steps toward solving them. Throughout the year, and as a prerequisite of attending the CGI U meeting, students, youth directors, and university officials develop their own Commitments to Action: a specific plan of action that addresses a pressing challenge on their campus, in their community, or in a different part of the world.
Commitments to Action, translate practical goals into meaningful and measurable results. Commitments are new, specific, and measurable initiatives that address social or environmental challenges on campuses, in communities, or in different parts of the world. Varying in scope and duration, many commitments are the result of new and diverse partnerships between students, universities, nonprofits, and national youth organizations, with members combining efforts to expand the impact of new ideas." (From the CGI U website)
Contact
Judith Simpson
Email:jsimpson@engr.psu.edu
Telephone:
814-865-1139