Corporate Social Responsibility - Mālama Hawaiʻi
It’s not only time to come back to Hawaiʻi. It’s time to give back to Hawaiʻi. Hawaiʻi’s corporate social responsibility program allows groups an opportunity to donate their time and mālama Hawaiʻi for all. Simply put, mālama means to take care – of our earth, each other and ourselves. By making a positive impact through unique and enriching volunteer projects, groups will experience deeper connection to our people, place and culture.
Following is a list of community organizations offering a variety of volunteer opportunities appropriate for groups of all sizes. Please keep in mind that a donation or an honorarium is often extended to the nonprofit as a mahalo for their efforts as organizations often arrange exclusive experiences that require additional staffing and resources.
For more information or to inquire about scheduling a volunteer project, please contact Kainoa Daines, Senior Brand Director: kdaines@hvcb.org. Attendees and their families are also encouraged to give back at an individual level and can find ideas on our Voluntourism page.
Statewide
Hawaiʻi Land Trust (Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Maui)
Hawaiʻi Land Trust (HILT) is Hawaiʻi’s islands-wide land trust that is both a nonprofit and a nationally accredited land trust. We protect lands that are integral to Hawaiʻi’s well-being and character, upholding our kuleana to these lands and the communities they are in, through thoughtful stewardship that deepens community connection to, and builds reciprocal relationships with ʻāina (land).
An essential component to the success of HILT, volunteers help with restoration and conservation projects, including land stewardship.
Minimum attendees to proceed: None
Maximum capacity: Flexible
Languages fluently spoken by staff other than English: Hawaiian
Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative (Virtual, Oʻahu)
Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative has been working hard to restore native forests. Their mission is to monitor and nurture this development from a collection of individual trees into an endemic Hawaiian ecosystem supporting a diverse population of plant and animal life. Attendees can do their part by sponsoring a Legacy Tree and will receive an electronic certificate of sponsorship along with the tree's ID number and GPS location so you can watch it grow over the years.
Additionally, O‘ahu attendees can plant and dedicate their sponsored tree at Gunstock Ranch in a special Planter's Experience via horseback or ATV.
Oʻahu
Battleship Missouri Memorial (Central Oʻahu)
The USS Missouri, America’s last battleship, served her country through three wars and is best known as the site of the signing of the Formal Instrument of Surrender, marking the end of World War II. Today, the “Mighty Mo” stands proudly overlooking her fallen sister ship, the USS Arizona, in Pearl Harbor.
Volunteering offers a unique opportunity to view parts of the ship not open to the public and includes cleaning, sanding, touch-up painting and helping preserve the decks of the ship.
Minimum attendees to proceed: 5
Maximum capacity: 25
Languages fluently spoken by staff other than English: Japanese
Hawaiʻi Convention Center Carbon Offset Program
In partnership with Hawai‘i-based Legacy Carbon, which is dedicated to providing the highest-quality, cost-effective certified carbon offsets in the world, Hawai‘i Convention Center groups can offset the environmental impact of their events by reforesting native trees in Hawai‘i. This initiative is an expansion of the Hawai‘i Convention Center’s One Million Trees program with the statewide nonprofit Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative (HLRI).
The program has been certified by the prestigious Switzerland-based Gold Standard Foundation and is the first forestry project in North America to issue Gold Standard credits.
Loko Iʻa Pāʻaiau (Central Oʻahu)
This native Hawaiian fishpond in Pearl Harbor is a National Historic Site as it’s one of the last remaining ancient fishponds in the area. It’s the former home of Kalanimanuia, the queen who once governed the island of Oʻahu nearly 500 years ago. Volunteers help clear invasive mangrove and move stones to try and restore the fishpond. Participate in Native Hawaiian protocol, educational briefing, fishpond cleanup and restoration (tasks may include pruning vegetation, creating burlap buffer, stone cleaning).
Minimum attendees to proceed: None
Maximum capacity: 60 (closer to 30 is preferred)
Note: Two months advance notice is greatly appreciated.
Mālama Maunalua (East Oʻahu)
Mālama Maunalua's mission is to restore the ecological health of Maunalua Bay. Through its Huki Program, the organization removes invasive algae from nearshore waters. Since its inception in 2009, roughly 4 million pounds of invasive algae have been removed from 26 acres in the bay. The invasive algae is donated to area farms to be used as an organic soil amendment.
Minimum attendees to proceed: 10
Maximum capacity: None
Note: Two months advance notice is greatly appreciated.
Sustainable Coastlines Hawaiʻi (Island-wide)
Help maintain the beauty of our beaches and coastlines by participating in a group beach cleanup. With Sustainable Coastlines Hawaiʻi, groups can remove debris and microplastics, and record their progress on data sheets, all while learning about the impact of their efforts. DIY cleanup kits can also be arranged to host their own mini-cleanups.
Minimum attendees to proceed: None
Maximum capacity: Flexible
Languages fluently spoken by staff other than English: Japanese
Waimea Valley (North Shore)
Help preserve sacred Waimea Valley. Waimea Valley’s volunteers are an important part of its mission as they help support the preservation of cultural sites and play a big role in its environmental conservation, forest restoration, and botanical garden maintenance. Volunteer opportunities are designed to inspire closer connections to our precious ʻāina (land), and the traditional Hawaiian cultural practices that we honor and celebrate.
Waimea Valley Volunteer Program welcomes you and your organization or group to engage in an awesome service learning experience. Exclusive workdays can be set up any day of the week, although the preferred days are Wednesday through Sunday from 9am to 12:30pm. Workdays are appropriate for participants of all ages.
Minimum attendees to proceed: 5
Maximum capacity: 60 (up to 125 can be accommodated if willing to split into smaller groups, at least four weeks advance notice required)
Note: Two weeks advance notice is greatly appreciated
Wild Side Specialty Tours (West Oʻahu)
Wild Side educates guests about the plight of our local marine life, promoting environmental awareness and stewardship to people from around the world, leaving them with compassion for wildlife and tools to conserve them. On every regenerative-travel centered charter aboard the Alakaʻi (“role model”), guests will get their hands wet and mālama ke kai (“care for and protect the sea”). Using easy-to-follow citizen science, experience opportunities to protect and preserve the ocean’s natural beauty and bounty and create sustainable practices. Research gathered alongside the biologist/naturalist crew is presented to and helps scientists and local communities come to needed conclusions.
Minimum attendees to proceed: None
Maximum capacity: Six passengers
Languages fluently spoken by staff other than English: Japanese
Kauaʻi
The Friends of Kamalani and Lydgate Park (Līhuʻe)
The Friends of Kamalani and Lydgate Park coordinates beach cleanups to make Lydgate Beach Park appealing and welcoming to our community. Its recurring Saturday beach cleanups last two hours (8:30am - 10:30am).
Volunteers typically clear away marine debris and driftwood from the Morgan's Ponds beach enclosure. Two weeks advance notice is greatly appreciated however two months advance notice is requested to adequately prepare for a unique scheduled event involving more than 25 persons.
Minimum attendees for an exclusive event: 25
Maximum capacity: 100
Languages fluently spoken by staff other than English: Could be arranged with advanced notice
Surfrider Foundation Kauaʻi (Island-wide)
Surfrider Kauaʻi is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. We focus on CARE: Conservation, Activism, Research, and Education.
Volunteers will accompany a Surfrider team leader to help remove harmful plastics and other marine debris that pollutes our oceans and harms marine wildlife such as whales, seals and turtles. It’s a great opportunity to leave Kauaʻi just a little better then when you found it while also providing a valuable group bonding experience.
Minimum attendees for an exclusive event: 8
Maximum capacity: 50, possibly more
Note: Two weeks advance notice is greatly appreciated
Hawaiʻi Island
ʻĀina Hoʻōla Initiative (Hilo)
Help restore the wetland habitat for endemic waterbirds that are endangered or threatened at Lokowaka, Kiʻonakapahu and Akahi fishponds in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Weekly community workdays involve removing invasive non-native plants and replacing the area with native ones.
Minimum attendees for an exclusive event: None
Maximum capacity: 20
Languages fluently spoken by staff other than English: Japanese
Friends of Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden (West Hawaiʻi Island)
The Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden is dedicated to conserve and support native plant resources and the associated traditional land use and cultural practices. This 15-acre botanical garden features over 200 species of “pre-Cookian” plants, which include endemic, indigenous, and Polynesian introduced flora.
Saturday morning is typically weeding time, but special arrangements may be possible depending on staff availability. The Garden is open Thursday through Saturday from 9 am - 2 pm.
Minimum attendees for an exclusive event: None
Maximum capacity: 12
Languages fluently spoken by staff other than English: Japanese with advanced notice
Hawaiʻi Environmental Restoration (East Hawaiʻi Island)
The mission of Hawaiʻi Environmental Restoration (HER) is to help restore the natural integrity of Hawaiʻi’s environment while providing a basis for community education about Hawaiʻi’s vegetation issues and solutions. HER’s primary project focuses on the restoration and preservation of Keauʻohana State Forest Reserve, the largest and most intact lowland rainforest remaining below 1,000 feet in the State of Hawaiʻi.
At times volunteers will help plant native species in the forest, but more often, efforts involve hand-pulling of invasive plant species that threaten the integrity of the rainforest, and tending of native species in support of its resilience. Workdays are Mondays 9:30am – 4pm for groups of five or less; larger groups can be scheduled on most weekdays.
Minimum attendees: None
Maximum capacity: 16
Note: Terrain is rugged
Uluhaʻo o Hualālai (West Hawaiʻi Island)
Uluhaʻo o Hualālai’s mission is to engage families in the stewardship of Hualālai’s natural and cultural resources for generations to come. Work days and special cultural workshops aim to bring the community together while enhancing the native forest ecosystems by removing aggressive invasive species, while propagating and out-planting select native species.
Minimum attendees: None
Maximum capacity: 10
Waikōloa Dry Forest Initiative (West Hawaiʻi Island)
Waikōloa Dry Forest Initiative is a community driven non-profit that cares for the dryland forest of Waikoloa. Leave a legacy in the dryland forest by helping to restore this special ecosystem through native planting, seed collection, and weed management.
Volunteers will spend the morning learning about the unique history and ecology of Waikoloa and lending their energy and hands to the restoration efforts that are ongoing in the preserve. Workdays can be scheduled Monday through Saturday, 8am – noon.
Minimum attendees: 9
Maximum capacity: 30
Maui
Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge (Kihei)
An important wetland for endangered Hawaiian stilts and coots, Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge is the site of one of the largest dry forest restoration projects on Maui. Volunteer work is almost always native planting, though sometimes invasive species needs to be removed.
Minimum attendees: None
Maximum capacity: 20
Languages fluently spoken by staff other than English: Spanish
Kipuka Olowalu (West Maui)
Kipuka Olowalu is a 72-acre cultural reserve that stretches mauka (mountain side) to makai (ocean side). The organization seeks to perpetuate Hawaiian customary practices through so that natural and cultural resources are available for generations to come.
Volunteers partake in restoration work in areas of the property including general cleaning, invasive species removal, and native plantings followed by an educational session. Regular volunteer days for individuals and small groups take place Wednesdays and Thursdays 7:30 am - 11:30 am. Groups larger than 10 people can be accommodated on different days.
Minimum attendees: None
Maximum capacity: 50
Leilani Farm Sanctuary (Haʻikū)
Located on nearly 8 acres of tropical land and home to rescued goats, cats, geese, donkeys, sheep, rabbits, pigs, ducks, deer and a cow, Leilani Farm Sanctuary provides care for rescued animals and humane education to the community. Workdays typically take place Mondays and Wednesdays at 9am and include tasks like gardening, animal grooming, trail maintenance and cleaning the barn.
Minimum attendees: None
Maximum capacity: 30
Mālama KAʻEHU (Wailuku)
KAʻEHU is a nonprofit organization with the goal to restore the land and perpetuate traditional Hawaiian culture using a community-based, inclusive, family-oriented approach to environmental stewardship and sustainable agriculture.
Volunteer opportunities include both land restoration and beach cleanups.
Minimum attendees: 10
Maximum capacity: 25
Languages fluently spoken by staff other than English: Hawaiian
Maui Cultural Lands (West Maui)
Help protect Honokowai Valley, one of Maui’s richest archaeological sites, and learn about how ancient Hawaiians thrived in this place. Learn about Hawaiian medicinal plants and applications on a botanical walk and help remove invasive species. Regular volunteer days for individuals and small groups take place Saturdays at 9am. Groups larger than 10 people can be accommodated on different days.
Minimum attendees: 10
Maximum capacity: 50
Pacific Whale Foundation (Island-wide)
The Coastal Marine Debris Monitoring Program is a beach cleanup program that provides visitors and residents the opportunity to get involved in taking care of the local environment. Individuals can pick up a beach cleanup kit from one of our kit stand partners and cleanup any beach they choose, disposing of the trash that's found properly and returning the provided data sheet to PWF. For large groups, PWF can lead the cleanup at your beach of choice, provide a short talk about marine debris, if desired, and provide bags and reusable gloves to participants.
Minimum attendees: 10
Maximum capacity: None
Molokaʻi
Molokaʻi Land Trust (Leeward)
The mission of the Molokaʻi Land Trust is to protect and restore the land, natural, and cultural resources of Molokaʻi, and to promote, educate, and perpetuate the unique Native Hawaiian traditions and character of the island for the benefit of the future generations, particularly Native Hawaiians.
Volunteer activities are determined by the time of year, weather, and program activities at the time. Common activities include invasive species removal, out planting of common and rare native species, seed collecting, nursery work/plant propagation, fence repairs/maintenance, etc.
Minimum attendees: None
Maximum capacity: 14
Note: There are no restrooms or sanitation facilities on the preserve. Prepare for sunny and windy weather.
