Employees and ʻohana also give back to communities
Ulu A’e Learning Center, one of the Kapolei-based organizations that benefitted from the Hawaiian Electric Company’s donation. Kapa is amazing especially when your instructor is Dalani Tanahy.
HONOLULU, Feb. 28, 2019 – For the year ending 2018, the Hawaiian Electric Companies contributed a total of $1,052,650 to support hundreds of non-profit, charitable and social welfare organizations across its service territories on Oʻahu, Maui county and Hawaiʻi Island in efforts to create strong, sustainable and resilient communities.
More than 20 percent of the funding total was directed to advance high-quality STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning opportunities for Hawaiʻi students and educators, while also encouraging careers in the STEM fields which are core to the Hawaiian Electric Companies’ mission of innovative clean energy leadership for Hawaiʻi.
Beneficiaries of Hawaiian Electric’s corporate grants included nonprofit service providers that aid in disaster preparedness and recovery, serve Hawaiʻi’s most vulnerable populations including the elderly, homeless and at-risk youth, support educational excellence and economic growth, protect the island’s threatened and endangered species and environment, and promote sustainable food and energy security in Hawaiʻi.
Off the job, more than 4,500 employees and their families and friends donated 13,395 hours of community service through activities aimed at improving the quality of life within the community or fulfilling a community need. Volunteer activities included trash and stream cleanups as well as community workdays to support restoration and maintenance of traditional loʻi (taro patch) and loko ʻia (fish pond). For the second year, Hawaiian Electric volunteers helped to install free smoke alarms and educate homeowners about fire safety and prevention to help save lives.
One-month long employee-led food & fund drives helped to raise more than 3800 pounds of food and over $12,400 for local food banks on Oʻahu and Maui, and employees also donated more than 900 units of blood to the Hawaiʻi Blood Bank during the year.
As one company, employees raised $12,000 for Hope Lodge, a home away from home for cancer patients seeking treatment on Oʻahu, inspired by an employee who lost his battle with the disease. After presenting the donation, employees prepared and served a home-cooked dinner for the families from Maui and Hawaiʻi Island who were staying at Hope Lodge while receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Community involvement also extended to school supplies and toys-for-tots drives to provide for less fortunate keiki as well as toiletry and gently used clothing drives for women in need, continuing a long-standing tradition by Hawaiian Electric Companies’ employees of giving back.
