Nearly $90,000 Raised to Assist Communities Affected by the Kīlauea Eruptions

The Hawai‘i Island Volcano Recovery Fund, started by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF), together with the Anderson-Beck Fund, Jack’s Fund, the Deviants from the Norm Fund and the Darrin & Darien Gee Family Fund, has raised nearly $90,000 in donations to assist with recovery efforts in support of Hawai‘i Island communities affected by the Kilauea volcano eruption.

“All of the generous donations we have received are helping to provide immediate assistance to those impacted by the volcano eruption,” said Micah Kane, president and CEO of HCF. “We know that community needs will evolve, and it may take years for those affected to completely recover.”

Grants from the Hawai‘i Island Volcano Recovery Fund are being categorized based on three priority areas, including immediate support for urgent needs for those displaced, support for some level of normalcy, and longer term recovery support for those communities affected by the eruptions. Within a week of creating this fund, HCF has distributed the first round of grants, totaling $32,000 to the following two organizations:

Neighborhood Place of Puna

This organization is serving as coordinating entity for the nonprofits providing responses. They are building on an informal network of 30 nonprofit agencies that came together after Hurricane Iselle. Initial funding will support purchase of a case management database system so that all the agencies have access to a common database of individual needs in order to coordinate aid and increased staffing for three months to manage the database and coordinate the responses.

Puna Baptist Church

The church is coordinating efforts around laundry for those displaced by the eruptions. Liliuokalani Trust provided washers and dryers and a local laundromat is providing discounted services. The churches are providing detergent and will distribute vouchers to be redeemed at the laundromat. The grant will cover the cost of the vouchers.

To ensure that every donation achieves its maximum impact, HCF is waiving administrative fees for the Hawai‘i Island Volcano Recovery Fund for the first ninety days.

On Friday, May 11, AT&T launched a text-to-donate campaign to help those impacted by the Kīlauea volcano eruption. Customers of AT&T can donate $10 to HCF via the text-to-donate campaign, by texting “VOLCANO” to 50555. All of the proceeds will go directly to Hawai‘i Island recovery efforts.
Donations to the Hawai‘i Island Volcano Recovery Fund can also be made online at HawaiiCommunityFoundation.org/volcanorecovery or by mail at Hawai‘i Community Foundation, 827 Fort Street Mall, Honolulu, HI, 96813.