Walmart Reports Positive Impacts to Hawaii Community

Wikki commons photo.

Walmart has released statistics reviewing beneficial impacts the global retailer created in Hawaiʻi during Fiscal Year 2017 (FY17). The highlights are a follow-up to the company’s 10th annual Global Responsibility Report which reviews progress in the areas of opportunity, sustainability and community.

In the area of opportunity, Walmart reported that Hawaiʻi employees earned more than $2.9 million in quarterly bonuses in FY17. Seventy seven percent of materials from Walmart Hawaiʻi’s store operations were diverted from landfills as part of the retailer’s efforts in sustainability. More than $1.74 million in cash and in-kind contributions were provided to nonprofits throughout the state in the area of community advancement.

Walmart said it also continued hiring military veterans as part of its Walmart Veterans Welcome Home Commitment, which launched in May 2013 and has hired a total of 385 veterans since it began.

In sustainability efforts, the company said it is the first retailer with an approved science-based emissions reduction plan that aims to reduce greenhouse emissions by 18 percent by 2025. Walmart also aims to power 50 percent of its operations with renewable energy by 2025. Currently, Walmart stores in Honolulu, Lihue, Kahului, Kailua-Kona, Kapolei and Mililani are outfitted with solar panels.

The retailer’s community contributions to local nonprofit organizations in FY17 included:

• Aloha Harvest – $25,000 grant supporting “Feeding Oʻahu’s Hungry Through Food Rescue” program;
• Boys & Girls Club of Hawaiʻi – Kauai Area – $40,000 grant for Ho‘omauhui Positive Youth Development Project;
• Hawaiʻi Foodbank – $60,000 grant supported Food 4 Keiki Backpack Program for 2016 to 17 school year at Ka‘iulani Elementary;
• Maui Food Bank – $45,000 grant provided 9,000 food backpacks a month for kids in need across Maui County;
• The Kohala Center – $28,000 grant helped fund The Kohala Center’s FoodCorps Hawai‘i Healthy Food, Healthy Children initiative;
• The Salvation Army – Hawaiian & Pacific Islands Division [TSA] – $50,000 grant supported TSA Family Treatment Services’ Sustain Ability initiative;
• YWCA of Hawaiʻi Island – $30,000 grant provided healthy lunches for each of the YWCA’s 108 preschoolers for one year.

Walmart also donated more than 747,000 pounds of food to local Hawaiʻi food banks in FY17, which translates to about 623,257 meals for homeless and hungry people.

Through the company’s “Fight Hunger, Spark Change” campaign, Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations nationwide partnered to raise more than $17 million in funds during FY17, including funds that supported Hawaiʻi Feeding America affiliate food banks:

• Hawaiʻi Foodbank – $77,911 for the Hawaii Foodbank and their neighbor island affiliates (Kauai Chapter, Maui Food Bank and Hawaiʻi Food Basket).

In other community efforts, Walmart reported its employees donated 933 hours to local nonprofits and charitable causes in Hawaiʻi during FY17. The retailer also supported disaster relief efforts in the Islands by providing $25,000 to stock three Project Vision mobile screening units with emergency preparedness supplies to help residents affected by natural disasters.