Hawaii Makes it Easier to Sign Up For Rewarding Volunteer Opportunities With Malami Hawaii Program

“Travelers are seeking a deeper, meaningful experience, and what makes the Hawaiian Islands unlike anywhere else in the world is our people, multi-cultural heritage, and reciprocal connection with the land and ocean,” said Mufi Hannemann, HTA board chair. “The Mālama Hawai‘i dashboard allows visitors to easily connect with nonprofits seeking volunteers to support our community in ways such as restoring Hawaiian fishponds, sorting food donations at food banks, and helping at community events.”

Visitors can view the Mālama Hawai‘i volunteer opportunities at GoHawaii.com/malama or GoHawaii.com/voluntourism. Opportunities to support Maui in its recovery following the August 2023 wildfires are also featured on the website. Visitors can sign up by submitting an RSVP, which generates an email to the partner who will respond with further information. Visitors can also provide monetary donations directly to the nonprofit organizations if they choose to.

Here’s a link to a story I wrote about volunteering on Maui a couple years ago, when I helped with a beach clean-up and also cleared invasive kiawe trees from a natural area near Lahaina. My wife and I also helped out at the Maui food bank on our last visit. It’s a tremendously rewarding experience, and you can even earn a hotel discount or a free hotel night by helping out as part of the Mālama Hawai’i program.

Cleaning up a beach near Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii. JIM BYERS PHOTO

“HTA’s partnership with Kanu Hawai‘i in developing the Mālama Hawai‘i dashboard is an example of regenerative tourism development benefiting our community,” said Daniel Nāho‘opi‘i, HTA’s interim president and CEO. “By integrating Kanu Hawai‘i’s system and their network of nonprofit organizations throughout the state, we are seamlessly connecting visitors with even more opportunities to improve our home for future generations.”

A custom reporting dashboard has also been designed to track key metrics statewide and by island, including the number of volunteers who sign up and the number of service hours provided. Nāho‘opi‘i added, “HTA will gather this baseline and ongoing data of visitors participating in these volunteer opportunities, which will also minimize the burden on the organizations and community groups to collect and report the information.”

“We need to invest more in quantifiable actions that will inform whether we are making a difference when it comes to responsible and regenerative tourism,” said Keone Kealoha, executive director of Kanu Hawaiʻi. “Creating a clear pathway for visitors to actionize the Mālama Hawaiʻi message through volunteering is one way we can do that. Not only is it a positive giveback to Hawaiʻi, it’s an experience that many will say was the highlight of their visit.”

A crew heads out to clear invasive trees from the Olowalu Valley on Maui, Hawaii. JIM BYERS PHOTO

Throughout April, HTA is also supporting Volunteer Month organized by Kanu Hawai‘i as part of HTA’s 2024 Community Enrichment program, which supports experiences that are developed by the community, for the community, and are things the community wants to share with visitors. The statewide, cross-sector campaign brings together residents, visitors, nonprofits, businesses, schools, and government agencies in a concerted effort to take grassroots action that serves Hawai‘i’s communities.

HTA and its Hawai‘i Tourism USA team launched the Mālama Hawai‘i program in 2020 during the pandemic. Since then, the private-public partnership program has grown to include 36 organizations throughout the state. Participating organizations featured on the dashboard have completed HTA’s Visitor Readiness Checklist, ensuring they have the resources and capacity for visitors to participate alongside residents.

To learn more about the Mālama Hawai‘i program, visit GoHawaii.com/malama. Organizations interested in participating should email hta@kanuhawaii.org for more information.