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.

OUTREACH PAGE

By Peggy Monell

Assistance League of Hawaii member volunteers responded in kind to a request form the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) program for assistance in this time of need.

Jessica Radovich who is the Academic and Student Affairs Educational Specialist at CTAHR inquired if we could help with students struggling to stay in school and pay all their bills.
Students were surveyed to see what their biggest concerns were during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are stressed out about being able to get food as CTAHR’s funding sources have been depleted.

Jessica asked if we might be able to help purchase non-perishable food items for them.

Assistance League of Hawaii to the rescue! Outreach chair Miho Teipel and I took Jessica to Costco and went food shopping. We were given a budget of $1500.00 and were able to supply 150 students with enough food for one month each. The look of happiness and tears of gratitude on their faces reinforced my love for what we do as the Assistance League of Hawaii.

The students at CTAHR study farming, agriculture, natural resources, and environmental studies. Their mission is to create and deliver knowledge that supports and strengthens families, agricultural and food systems, and the natural environment. CTAHR educates and serves the people of Hawaii and those from around the world with integrity and excellence.

Learn more about CTAHR at their website. https://cms.ctahr.hawaii.edu/