Alice Min Soo Chun has been busy packing 1,000 collapsible lanterns into three giant suitcases. Shortly after Christmas, she’ll cart them by herself to war-ravaged Ukraine. Her goal is to distribute as many of the portable solar lights she created to as many children in hospitals as she can.
“I want these kids to know that we haven’t forgotten about them and that the world cares about them,” said Chun, the co-founder and CEO of Solight Design. “I want to tell them that the light is basically like holding sun in your hands…and the light of their imagination is even more powerful than the sun – and that they are going to get through this.”
Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid have left many without power. After Chun spoke to a children’s hospital in Lviv, Ukraine, she said she learned many young patients there were scared and struggling during the rolling blackouts. She also said she learned at one hospital, nurses at one point were cooking for food for infants in the Intensive Care Unit and didn’t have light and power, and were having a difficult time even just boiling water.
Chun, 57, who was honored on Know Your Value and Forbes’ 2022 “50 Over 50,” Impact list, knew she had to help.
The entrepreneur had previously delivered her origami-style “SolarPuffs” to children in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017. The lanterns have also been distributed to war-engulfed countries or areas hit by national disasters, including in Nepal, Haiti, Ghana, Liberia and more.
“When we gave our colorful lights [to kids in Puerto Rico], it was easier for them to relax and fall asleep. They used a blue light as a nightlight, which helped them in the evening….So when I heard about the kids in Ukraine, I said ‘I have to go and take these lights to them,’” said Chun.
The lanterns, said Chun, will be paid for by Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Iger reached out to Chun after his team saw her work featured on “Gutsy,” Apple TV+’s show by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, which spotlights some of the world’s bravest and boldest women.
To get to Ukraine, Chun will fly into Krakow, Poland and then will take a six-hour train to Lviv. She plans on delivering the lanterns to children in three hospitals.









