Our Outreach program is currently ramping up due to the recent Kona Low flooding disasters. Assistance League of Hawai’i is partnering with the Department of Education to meet emergent student needs through The Youth Educational Stability Project. You can contribute through our PAYPAL and donation links on this page to help the victims of these terrible floods (see more details below).
Outreach is ramping up due to recent Kona Low storms in March 2026 caused widespread flooding across Hawaiʻi, creating urgent needs in our school communities. Many students and their families have been significantly impacted—displaced from their homes and facing ongoing hardship. We are working diligently to provide timely and meaningful relief.
The Assistance League of Hawaiʻi has partnered with the Department of Education’s (DOE) Community Engagement Branch, which works directly with students and families. Through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, students experiencing homelessness—including those displaced by the Kona Low flooding—are eligible for support. This federal law broadly defines homelessness to include individuals lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, such as those living in shared housing due to hardship, motels, shelters, or other temporary situations.
Statewide DOE liaisons are on the front lines, identifying students who have lost essential belongings or are facing new barriers, including transportation challenges. To respond effectively to these diverse and immediate needs, the following items are in high demand:
- Hygiene supplies (soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, feminine hygiene products)
- Essential items such as clothing, school supplies, and temporary storage containers (e.g., ice chests for use in temporary housing)
- Emergency items as needed arise
Funding these needs presents a challenge. Many of these items cannot be purchased using state or federal funds, making nonprofit support critical. While the Assistance League of Hawaiʻi maintains an annual budget for one-time emergencies, the scale of this disaster exceeds those resources.
In response, the Board has approved earmarking recent donations specifically for this effort. Our total initial budget for expenditures is $9000.00. We anticipate participating with the DOE for multiple years. Should others wish to support this initiative to help students and families affected by the March flooding in Hawaii, all contributions will be directed to a designated fund as we continue our collaboration with DOE community engagement liaisons to meet the evolving needs of affected students and families. We anticipate participating with the DOE for multiple years, as we did with the Lahaina Fires a couple of years ago.