Faces of Philanthropy 2012 Issue 3

Faces of

Philanthropy 2012 • ISSUE 3

Quarterly News from the Hawai‘i Community Foundation

Kuki‘o Community Fund

Nurturing Youth, Nurturing the Future

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

Serving Our Community Since 1916

FOR POLYNESIANS, THE NIU, or coconut, provided every basic necessity for survival, including food, water, shelter and fiber. Each nut contains the possibility of an entire grove.

Along Hawai‘i Island’s Kohala Coast, a small group of Kūki‘o residents—both kama‘āina and newer arrivals— came together in 2001, united by a feeling of connection to the land and a sense of responsibility to the people living in surrounding communities.

They established the Kūki‘o Community Fund at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation as a vehicle for charitable giving and ultimately decided to focus specifically on the youth of West Hawai‘i and their families. The sprouting niu is a fitting logo for the Kūki‘o Community Fund because it represents the promise of youth and the hope that, with care, they and their families will thrive.

“The fabric of the community has changed,” observes Maui-born Carl Carlson, member of the fund’s Advisory Committee. He wistfully remembers being dropped off at the park by the school bus each afternoon when he was a boy, and playing with friends until his parents came to pick him up after work. Unfortunately, that carefree existence no longer matches today’s reality: Of the approximately 15,000 youth and children in West Hawai‘i, an estimated 35% will not graduate from high school; 70% are members of families who manage with annual incomes of less than $50,000; and geographic dispersion makes quality out-of-school activities difficult to access.

Contributions from concerned Kūki‘o residents help to support local nonprofits providing afterschool programs and enrichment experiences for kids who might otherwise fall between the cracks. While the grants tend to be small—often in the $5,000 range— their impact is not. Around 1,000 young people participate in programs funded each year by the Kūki‘o Community Fund.

“Organizations that respond to the annual Request for Proposal offer a peek into what’s going on in West Hawai‘i and the chance to support projects that demonstrate high levels of collaboration, intergenerational engagement and caring adult leadership,” according to Lydia Clements, director of neighbor island philanthropic services at the Foundation.

With help from the Ku-ki‘o Community Fund, middle school students from North Kohala participate in service learning projects along the West Hawai‘i coast.

A small grant to Ocean Warriors, an afterschool program for at-risk youth, enabled middle school students to attend weekly field trips to West Hawai‘i coastal areas so they could learn firsthand about protecting local watersheds. “The funding came at a critical time for us,” said Elizabeth Pickett, who created the Ocean Warriors program as part of her work with the Mālama Kai Foundation. “As the community was ramping up its environmental efforts at Kauhola Point, the kids—who started showing Continued on next page

Leading the Mission

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2012

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Aloha and Happy Trails!

MAY 15

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es G i v ing

A message from the Chairman and President & CEO

Summer is traditionally associated with family vacations and, if you’re lucky enough, with the chance to travel. Part of the fun comes before the trip, as you anticipate your destination and think about the adventures that await you. Traveling with family and friends—whether to Hilo or Hanoi— heightens the experiences in the places you visit and reflecting on your experiences after you’ve returned home keeps the memories alive.

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G i v i ng

At the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, we think about philanthropy as a journey as well. Like most journeys, it involves deciding where you want to go, what difference you want to make, and who might join you; en route, there are opportunities to evaluate how things are going and make adjustments. When people join with the Foundation as donors and clients, our job is to help them on this journey. That is why a mock passport seemed like a fitting and fun souvenir for the more than 175 donors and guests who gathered on May 15th to celebrate the impact that their giving has made and to share some of the stories of their various experiences.

Paul Kosasa Chairman of the Board

Kelvin H. Taketa President & CEO

In this issue of Faces of Philanthropy, you’ll learn about other people who have come together around shared passions. The partners who comprise the Hawai‘i Youth Opportunities Initiative (HYOI) have joined forces to help foster kids who are forced out of the system at age 18 to become successful adults. A group of concerned Ku-ki‘o residents have united to help support local nonprofits provide afterschool programs and enrichment experiences for kids in West Hawai‘i. And teachers and artists have participated in Collaborative Residences as part of the Artists in the Schools program for the benefit of public and charter school students in Hawai‘i.

Thanks to individuals and families who have embarked on a philanthropic journey with the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, our community has been enriched. A better souvenir for these journeys would be hard to imagine.

From left: Donors Esther Kawakami-Williams and Alice Kawakami. Scholarship fund donors Will Henderson and Malia Evans.

Kuki‘o Community Fund up regularly and working hard to clean up the beach—were the ones who catalyzed the adults to get even more involved!” And when the land adjacent to the shoreline went up for sale, momentum grew for the community to buy it.

T-shirt and bumper sticker sales spurred much larger donations, and so did the enthusiasm and expertise of the students and adults. The fact that a piece of land in West Hawai‘i is now protected in perpetuity is thanks, in part, to the appropriately named Ocean Warriors.

“Young people whose minds and spirits are nourished learn various skills as they grow and learn as a team,” says Carl Carlson. Working together and giving together are modeled by the Kūki‘o residents as they nurture the strong and resilient grove of West Hawai‘i’s youth.

Continued from page 1

• Kūki‘o Community Fund was

established in 2001 to offer a way for Kūki‘o residents to connect with the surrounding community through charitable giving.

• Kūki‘o Community Fund has

awarded 90 organizations grants totaling $1,009,420 (total grants made since inception) for programs that improve the lives of the children, youth, and families of Hawai‘i Island.

• Around 1,000 young people

participate each year in programs supported by the Kūki‘o Community Fund.

• An Advisory Committee

comprised of Kūki‘o members, representatives of WB Kūki‘o Resorts, and a community cultural leader is led and facilitated by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s staff. Current advisors include: Sam Ainslie, Carl Carlson, Benjy Garfinkle, Sally Hartman, Grant Heidrich, and Hannah Springer. In addition, Jim Lally, Robert Punihaole and Elle Stephens have also served as advisors to the fund.

Art the

Faces of

Philanthropy

of Learning

THE ILIAD— THE EPIC POEM attributed to Homer—was originally written in Greek … and might as well still be for many high school and college students assigned to decipher it. Not Through the Artists in the Schools program, so for the sixth sixth grade students from Kilauea Elementary School learn to bring the lessons of The Iliad graders at Kīlauea poem to life through expressive dance.

Elementary School on the North Shore of Kaua‘i. For them, the 10year siege of the city of Troy during the Trojan War is a story they have explored through dance and haiku … and therefore one that they relate to and remember.

Whether sneaking through Egyptian tunnels (under cafeteria tables), or robbing tombs, slaying enemies, or building pyramids, the 26 students in Judy Waite’s class understand the ancient adventure on a visceral level: “I feel like I’m in the story,” said one sixth grader. Another observed, “Wars make angry feelings.” Some of those feelings were expressed by students through their poetry; some were explored as the class read aloud from Black Ships Before Troy.

It is thanks to the Collaborative Residency of classroom teacher Judy Waite and teaching artist Mauli Ola Cook that the lessons of The Iliad came alive for these Kaua‘i students. The idea behind Artists in the Schools—of which the Collaborative Residency is a part—is that artists and teachers engage in professional development and in co-planning ways to weave art into a curriculum that meets DOE-mandated standards. As a result, students gain greater access to arts education, arts are more fully integrated into the regular classroom, and teachers’ capacity to teach the existing curriculum as well as the arts is increased. “By the end of the 10 sessions,” laughs Judy Waite, “I finally got the hang of playing the drum and calling out instructions at the same time.”

The biggest challenge for the veteran teacher was not playing the drum, but becoming a teacher in the first place. Waite worked at Foodland for seven years before deciding that her real calling was not behind a cash

register, but in a classroom. At 39 years old, with a twoyear-old daughter and a husband working as a commercial fisherman, the dream of going back to school to become a teacher was a stretch.

That is, until Judy was awarded a full scholarship designated for older students through the Hawai‘i Community Foundation. The fund not only covered tuition, but also allowed Judy to travel to the University of Hawai‘i on O‘ahu, which at the time was the only option for pursuing the degree she sought. For two-and-a-half years, Judy took 20 credits worth of classes between Tuesdays and Fridays, flying home each weekend to be with her family and to catch up on homework.

The idea behind Artists in the Schools is that artists and teachers engage in professional development and in co-planning to weave art into a curriculum. As a result, students gain greater access to arts education.

If that wasn’t challenge enough, two weeks after she started, Hurricane Iniki hit the island of Kaua‘i and Judy’s husband lost the two jobs he had taken on. She came close to giving up at times, but her perseverance paid off in 1995, when Waite was awarded not one, but two degrees: a bachelor’s in Elementary Education and a teaching diploma.

Judy is doubly thankful to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation: “They made it possible for me to become a teacher many years ago, and then to become an even better teacher through the Artists in the Schools program.” She is but one of many beneficiaries of the Artists in the Schools (AITS) program, which is administered by the Hawai‘i State Foundation for Culture and the Arts (HSFCA). The Hawai‘i Community Foundation matches HSFCA AITS funds to increase the amount available to schools. In the 2011-2012 school year, 78 public and charter schools on six islands received grants.

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Transitioning Out of Foster Care with Competence, Connections and Caring THE HAWAI‘I YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES INITIATIVE (HYOI) helps young people who are leaving foster care to become successful adults. At a July gathering hosted by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, funders, partners, community members, and youth shared some highlights.

Among HYOI’s recent accomplishments, 174 young people participated in financial literacy training and opened new bank accounts. They purchased $75,000 worth of assets—including a 1:1 match provided by HYOI—for housing, education, medical insurance and vehicles.

HYOI is also working in conjunction with the State of Hawai’i Department of Human Services to improve policies and practices that affect all young people.

The impact of HYOI’s partnership hui occurs not only at the policy level but also on a personal one. Nellie Mamuad, member of the HI HOPES youth leadership board, poignantly described one of the East Hawai‘i grant projects: “Youth who age out of care

HI HOPES youth board members with Geist Foundation Trustees (l to r), Gary Morimoto, Jean Creadick and Dr. Charman Akina.

don’t usually have the basic hygiene needs or even just a proper bag for their belongings.

They’re often given trash bags for their stuff, as they are shuffled from placement to placement. But no youth should have to feel like they or their belongings are trash.” The Adult Survival Kit (TASK) that HI HOPES members created is a duffle bag filled with necessities … a sensible and sensitive solution.

HYOI (currently operating on O‘ahu and the Big Island), intends to be statewide by the end of 2012. Initial funding was provided by the

Victoria and Bradley Geist Foundation, the Atherton Family Foundation, the McInerny Foundation and Hawai‘i Community Foundation. At the event, The Victoria and Bradley Geist Foundation and the advisors to the Doc Buyers Fund at Hawai‘i Community Foundation announced their commitment to support the Initiative for 2013-2015. To learn more, visit the Foundation’s website to watch a video on HYOI or contact Amy Luersen at aluersen@hcf-hawaii.org.

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

www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org