Faces of Philanthropy 2009 Spring

Faces of

NON-PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID HONOLULU, HI PERMIT NO. 179

Hawai`i Community Foundation

Philanthropy

1164 Bishop St, Suite 800 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Spring 2009

Quarterly News from the Hawai`i Community Foundation

2009 Scholarship Season OUR MissiOn

Faces of Philanthropy

Spring 2009

HCF’s E-newsletter: E-Communities Here at the Foundation we always have you, our donors and friends, top of mind. That’s why we want to share as much information with you as possible and in the most efficient way. In February, we launched our first ever e-newsletter titled, E-Communities. Every month you will find the latest news and happenings at the Foundation including, grantmaking and nonprofit success stories, features on staff, and a message from our president, Kelvin Taketa. We encourage you to subscribe to our e-newsletter and please send us your email address. There is a sign-up area on our Web site www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org, or you may call or email our Philanthropic Services Team at 566-5560 or clientservices@hcf-hawaii.org. Be a part of our E-Community today!

We help people make a difference by inspiring the spirit of giving and by investing in people and solutions to benefit every island community.

March 2 was the deadline for over 150 scholarships the Foundation administers. Every year, we give out more than $30 million in grants and over the past 15 years alone, we distributed over $26 million in scholarships making us the second largest post-secondary scholarship provider in Hawai‘i.

The Foundation’s scholarship program consists of different scholarship funds established by generous and caring individuals, businesses or organizations to assist Hawai‘i’s residents in obtaining college educations or vocational training. Some of the funds are part of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation while some represent private foundations that have asked the Foundation to manage their scholarships. Once students apply, they can, if eligible, receive awards from one or more of these funds.

In this season alone, we received over 5000 pieces of mail, 7600 online applications and hope to distribute around $5 million, the same amount as last year. With the help of our staff and a group of volunteers who worked tirelessly for two weeks, we were able to finish processing all applications in record time.

With 53 hours of staff time from volunteer staff members, 41 hours from community volunteers, the Scholarship Staff time and the student temps who contributed greatly allowed us to beat our deadline by three days! Even with the mass amounts of opening mail, sorting and creating thousands of individual files, the work was done seamlessly.

KGMB 9 news also captured the story of our scholarship program in a month long special, which aired in February. The special featured the journeys of two past scholarship recipients and two donors of scholarship funds at the Foundation.

HCF Vocational Education Scholar ship Deadline: J uly 1, 2009 Vocational education describes certification or degree programs designed to teach students skills for a specific segment of employment. Scholarships are made possible through funds established by generous individuals, businesses or organizations.

For more information on connecting with a cause that you care about, please contact HCF’s Philanthropic Services Department at (808) 566-5560 (toll-free at 1-888-731-3863) or email clientservices@hfc-hawaii.org.

For more information about this and other community building initiatives in which Hawai‘i Community Foundation is involved, please call our Programs Department at (808) 537-6333.

www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org

leading the mission On January 20th, the world witnessed a historic event with Barack Obama’s oath of office in our nation’s capitol.

Obama is America’s 44th president and the first hapa --and a son of Hawai‘i! --- to hold the highest office in our land. With his victorious election last November, Obama brought a renewed sense of hope, optimism and unity that had been missing from our landscape for some time.

While 2009 has not yet given us much to be hopeful for and our new president has had to deal with unprecedented economic challenges in the few weeks he has held office, new tk we share Obama’s message to the American public that the journey through this adversity will make us a stronger and better nation than ever before. And that will be true of nonprofit organizations and those of us who work in Hawai‘i’s nonprofit sector.

Despite the bad economic news that dominates the daily landscape, what we’re starting to hear more of is adaptability. Businesses are adapting their strategies to stay afloat. We’re also witnessing the adaptability of nonprofit organizations to a wildly unpredictable funding landscape.

We’re heartened because these nonprofits, like the forprofit businesses, will likely weather the months ahead successfully.

The Hawai‘i Community Foundation is poised to do its part – and maybe even more – because we know that with all of our partners, including you, we can and will successfully weather the months ahead to become an even more vibrant community where people’s ideas, initiative and generosity support a thriving, responsible community.

But, we’re also adapting to the ever changing landscape.

One of the initiatives that we’re launching this year is to begin moving many of our communication pieces, such as this winter edition of “Faces of Philanthropy,” into electronic format.

a message from our board chairman and president

If you have one, please send us your e-mail address, so that we can be certain to include you in all of our ecommunications. We feel it’s especially important, now more than ever, for us to stay in touch with you and vice

2008 Cooke Foundation Beautification Awards versa. And don’t worry if you don’t have an e-mail address, we’ll continue to mail you a copy of our communications, but please help us to update our records to ensure that the mailing information we have for you is current. You can contact us by telephone at (808) 5665560 or via e-mail at clientservices@hcf-hawaii.org.

We hope you enjoy this issue of “Faces of Philanthropy,” featuring a roundup of various activities from the last quarter of 2008.

Aloha, Barry Taniguchi Chairman Board of Governors

Kelvin Taketa President and Chief Executive Officer

Ian Doane Smith Scholarship Award The Ian Doane Smith Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation was created by Kent and Polli Smith along with Antoinette Smith, the widow of the late Ian Smith. Ian was an all-star soccer player for Maui High School and a big wave surfer who passed away while on a snowboarding trip. The Ian Doane Smith Scholarship Fund was created in memory of him to be awarded to students from Maui that has an interest in soccer and/or surfing.

Polli Smith, Ian’s mother, recently awarded Ryan Rodriguez of St. Anthony’s Jr. Sr. High School, one of two $2,000 awards on May 14th. Larissa Nakamitsu of Kamehameha Maui also received this scholarship.

Copies of current and past issues of Faces of Philanthropy are available at www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org.

Earlier this year one of the Foundation’s private foundation clients, the Cooke Foundation, awarded three public schools in the state of Hawai‘i a monetary award for individual beautification projects. The Cooke Foundation established this new award in 2008 to recognize exemplary completed projects that enhance the overall appearance and ambiance of Hawai‘i public schools. S.W. King Intermediate School on O‘ahu, Lahainaluna High School on Maui, and Innovations Public Charter School on Hawai‘i Island were the inaugural recipients.

“A beautiful environment at school is conducive to learning and encourages respect for one’s school, respect for others and respect for oneself,” said Lynne Johnson, Cooke Foundation Vice President and Trustee.

“Maintaining such an environment nurtures a sense of community and develops school pride.”

All public schools, including charter schools, were eligible to apply. There are specific criteria required for nominees such as participation in the projects by students, parents and faculty/staff, significant improvement in the appearance of the school through landscaping or artwork, and a maintenance plan that involves the school community or outside organizations.

The following projects were awarded: • S.W. King Inter mediate School – Two sod turf projects to beautify the Hula Mound and the frontage of Building A. • Lahainaluna High School – Boarders’ Field renewal project, with the addition of a hula platform.

• Innovations Public Char ter School – Murals and other beautification of the school’s campus.

This year, public schools can try again for a beautification award. Deadline to apply is September 1.

New staff: Josh Stanbro Progr am Director, Environment and Sustainability In February, the Foundation welcomed Josh Stanbro to fill a new position. The role of program director of environment and sustainability was created as part of a strategic plan to expand the Foundation’s environmental focus. “My goal is to educate and inform local and mainland donors (including other foundations) about the tipping point that Hawai‘i is approaching,” says Josh.

Josh will manage the Foundation’s portfolio of discretionary grants as well as the investments of our donors, clients and partners in the conservation arena. Equally important, he will be working to increase the level of environmental funding in Hawai‘i and working to develop an environmental funders’ network to share ideas and collaborate. “My hope is that we can double the amount of grants HCF is making in these fields in the next two years, and help insure that our kids and grandkids will inherit an island home that is healthier and more selfreliant than today.”

Prior to joining the Foundation, Josh did environmental consulting for Creative Commons and was the project manager for The Trust for Public Land, Hawai‘i.

We encourage your comments and questions. Please contact us via e-mail at communications@hcf-hawaii.org or call (808) 566-5544.