On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, U.S. Congressman Ed Case announced that $1.8 million in grants have been awarded to service organizations in Hawaiʻi.

“The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that Congress enacted and the President signed into law in March has made these funds available to stabilize and expand national service programs that have been responding to communities hit hard by COVID-19. The release of these funds will give more people the chance to serve their country and help make our Hawaiʻi a better place to live, work and raise our families,” said Case in a press release.

A grant of $1,076,963 was awarded to the Hawaiʻi Commission on National and Community Service to provide the program with the flexibility and resources needed to increase living allowances, build capacity and expand volunteering opportunities.

A second grant of $800,831 will go to the Kupu Environmental Stewardship Program, which works to preserve Hawaiʻi’s natural resources while empowering youth through service-learning programs in conservation and sustainability. One of Kupu’s initiatives is its culinary program housed at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Hoʻokupu Center in Kewalo Basin, which has been used to prepare thousands of meals for needy families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Photo courtesy of the Office of Congressman Ed Case

 

 

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