Recent grants to Hawaii nonprofits

$1.4M in federal funds go to Native Hawaiian nonprofits

The federal government has awarded seven Native Hawaiian organizations $1.4 million on Aug. 24, part of $11.85 million granted to 35 native community development financial institutions and organizations in 17 states. The funds will help financial institutions increase lending services to native communities.

“The Native Hawaiian community was hit especially hard by the recession, and these funds will help small business secure credit and create new jobs,” Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said in a statement. The money will also help families find a home.”

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement received $725,000, the largest award for a Native Hawaiian organization. The awards were announced during the CNHA’s annual Native Hawaiian Convention in Honolulu.

The other Hawaii organizations that received awards were the Aloha Federal Credit Union, which received $150,000; Alternative Structures International in Waianae, which received $85,498; Hawaiian Community Assets Inc., which received $130,900; Kanu O Ka Aina Learning Ohana on the Big Island, which received $133,700, Kau Federal Credit Union in Naalehu, which received $279,000, and The Queen’s Federal Credit Union, which received $24,950.

> PBS Hawaii has received a $5 million grant from the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation to help the public television station build its new headquarters in Honolulu. PBS Hawaii, which lost its lease at its 28,000-square-foot current location at the corner of University Avenue and Dole Street, purchased a building on a 45,000-square-foot lot at 315 Sand Island Access Road in January 2009 for $5.2 million, but said additional funds were needed to cover the cost of renovating and rebuilding the property, formerly occupied by commercial station KFVE-TV. The grant puts PBS Hawaii past the midway point in its $30 million capital campaign, board Chair Robbie Alm noted.

> East-West Center has been awarded a three-year, $1.09 million grant for journalist exchange programs from the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. The award will fund the continuation and expansion of the Center’s Pakistan-U.S. Journalists’ Exchange program, which was held for the first time in April this year. Funding also will assist in overseas training of Pakistani journalists for them to participate in existing multinational exchange programs.

> Edmund C. Olson, founder of A-American Storage Management Co., has donated $500,000 to The Nature Conservancy to protect native Hawaiian forests in the Big Island districts of Kau and South Kona. According to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Olson has homes in Hilo and Pahala. The donation is the latest of a series of land conservation gifts from Olson, who is a partner in the Big Island's O.K. Farms LLC and has other agricultural interests in Kau.

> Alexander & Baldwin Foundation has presented a $100,000 gift to Aloha United Way. Funds will help achieve its mission of raising funds for Oahu's nonprofit agencies by mobilizing the caring power of the community.

> Chaminade University has been awarded an $83,000 grant from the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation to support the Castle Colleagues Pre-School Directors Management Training Program. In addition, the Joseph & Vera Long Foundation awarded $50,000 to the university to support improvements at Eiben Hall.

> Walmart Foundation’s Hawaii State Giving Council has awarded grants totaling $105,000 to four Hawaii-based nonprofits, including Ka Hale Ake Ola Homeless Resource Centers on Maui, YWCA of Hawaii Island on Hawaii, Hamakua Youth Foundation on Hawaii and Operation Homefront on Oahu. Other Hawaii nonprofits groups may apply for another round of grants; the deadline is Sept. 9. Applications are available at the website http://walmartfoundation.org. The minimum grant is $25,000.

> The Women's Fund of Hawaii has announced its grant distribution for the first cycle of 2011. As part of a grant-making partnership with the Omidyar Ohana Fund via the Hawaii Community Foundation, a total of $37,500 was awarded to 10 nonprofit organizations whose programs empower women and girls in Hawaii's community including: Adult Friends for Youth, $5,000; Family Promise of Hawaii, $5,000; Habitat for Humanity West Hawaii, $1,000; Hawaii Council for the Humanities, $3,000; Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, $6,175; Hoomau Ke Ola, $2,000; Kokua Kalihi Valley, $5,000; Maui Family Support Services, $5,000; Outreach for Grieving Youth Alliance, $4,125; and WorkNet, $1,200.