April, 2007 - The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Visalia is donating a thousand light bulbs to the low-income community of London in rural Tulare County. Nearly half of the northern Tulare County farmworker community is below the poverty line according to the U.S. Census.

"We wanted to make an effort that would address two concerns at once," said April Hill, President of the congregation. "Our denomination believes that global warming is the moral issue of our time. At the same time, poverty has yet to be eradicated in our country, state, and especially here in Tulare County. We found a way to address both issues simultaneously by providing two compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) to each household in the comunity of London."

Hill said low-income people are unlikely to purchase CFLs, which cost more to purchase then old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs, not realizing that resulting energy savings over time more than offset the difference. By providing the bulbs, the congregation also wanted to help low-income families realize they could save more money in the long run by investing in the higher-cost bulbs. It is providing information sheets from P G & E in both English and Spanish to the community.

The Visalia congregation's "Green Sanctuary" committee chair Harold Wood said, "Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) use up to 75% less energy than conventional bulbs. CFLs save $60 a year in energy costs if you replace five regular incandescent light bulbs! We wanted to provide these cost-saving devices to a low-income community, both to help reduce their energy bills, while helping to reduce global warming emissions."

The congregation encourages everyone to maximize their energy savings by replacing the most frequently used lights in your home with CFLs.

The effort was motivated by the Unitarian-Universalist denomination principle of "respect for the interdependent web of all existence," as the congregation worked toward becoming a "green sanctuary," and participated in the California Interfaith Power and Light program for churches. The Interfaith group believes "All major faith traditions call us to be good stewards of the earth, therefore we must work together to address the grave threat to humanity and all of Creation posed by global warming."