ABOUT you A PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE
P HI L A N THROP Y: IT ’ S AL L
Community Giving is Good Business Group 70 Employees Invest at Home ➻ GROUP 70 ARCHITECTS, designers, and
planners focus on community every day. It’s their job, their passion. “We attract people who have a higher calling,” said Group 70’s Cami Kloster. “Our people have a need to be in the community, to give back.” That’s the mission of the Group 70 Fund at Hawai’i Community Foundation (HCF), engaging employees so that they can give back to their community and see the impact of their time and money. Every dollar of the fund comes from Group 70 employees, from new hires to the most senior. Donations range from $10 to thousands, and an employee committee reviews the grant applications to select their ultimate recipients.
“The energy in the room is amazing, grantees connecting with each other, and our people seeing the difference they make.” “Every year we invite the grant recipients to a reception, where they can say a few words and everyone meets each other,” Kloster said. “The energy in the room is amazing, grantees connecting with each other, and our people seeing the difference they make.” Group 70 relies on HCF’s Flex Grant
program – a program that identifies and provides unrestricted funding to highperforming nonprofits across the state – to find worthy recipients whose work is in keeping with Group 70's interests in culture, community development, education, environment, and design. Several stand-out projects —ReUse Hawaii, Family Promise, and Ma Ka Hana Ka Ike — have been recipients multiple times. “We feel very connected to them and them to us,” Kloster said. “These connections make it real, both for us and them.” First started in 2002, the Group 70 Fund at HCF has now invested over $500,000 in worthy programs and initiatives around the state, including: • Ma Ka Hana Ka Ike, transforming the isolated region of Hana into a strong, compassionate, resilient community focused on the needs of their youth and kūpuna; • Leeward Oahu Habitat for Humanity, providing low cost building and home improvements; • Kaua‘i Recycling for the Arts, teaching the importance of recycling through art; • The Friends of the Palace Theatre in Hilo, improving the theatre for the myriad of cultural events that occur there. For Group 70, being a good community steward is also good business. “Employees find it very special.” Kloster said. “Our fund with HCF helps us stand out.”
Did You Know … HCF partners with businesses across the state, like Group 70, to help them fulfill their goals for giving and care for the communities that have supported them.
» Learn how it’s about you – HawaiiCommunityFoundation.org/you APRIL 2016 · HAWAII BUSINESS 153
03-16 HB HCF Fullpage .indd 113
3/11/16 4:05 PM