Dorrance Family Foundation

East Meets West Foundation

Island Harvest, Inc.

Hawaii Wildlife Center

The Kohala First Year
Scholarship

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Kohala's Project Venture

Archives

Community Resources

Archives

New Moon Foundation extends its gratitude to the following organizations for successful partnership efforts: Hawaii Community Foundation, The Kohala Center, and Na Huapala O`Hawai`i. We look forward to future opportunities to collaborate on programs and projects of mutual benefit.

Hawaii Community Foundation

In the year 2000, New Moon Foundation developed a partnership with Hawai'i Community Foundation (HCF) of Waimea whose mission is to help people make a difference by inspiring the spirit of giving and by investing in people and solutions to benefit our Island community. Over the past seven years, through the creation of the New Moon Fund administered by HCF, NMF had been able to support numerous organizations in their efforts to bring worthwhile programs to our community. We are grateful to the New Moon Fund grant recipients which include The American Cancer Society, The Kahilu Theatre Foundation of Waimea, The Kohala Center, Kohala's Project Venture, West Hawai`i Mediation Center, West Hawai`i Cemetery Reforestation Project, and many others, for their dedication and beneficial contributions to the people of Hawai`i. In February 2007, NMF closed the New Moon Fund at HCF in order to focus on programs that could be conducted at our Sweet Water land holdings in North Kohala.  The majority of these programs are expected to be land-based until the NMF residential campus is complete.  

The Kohala Center

New Moon Foundation works in cooperation with The Kohala Center for Pacific Environments, located in Waimea, to conduct graduate level research and educational programs on NMF's Sweet Water lands. Recent collaborations include the Yale School of Foresty graduate studies.

The Kohala Center is at the hub of an estimable network of private, public and independent sector institutions that serve the integration of living communities and cultures with the pursuit of academic excellence at all levels, from kindergarten to postgraduate study. The Kohala Center uses its unique island setting as a living laboratory and classroom to generate new knowledge about global ecological phenomena and provide systemic solutions to global environmental challenges, so that communities on the island and around the world can thrive, economically, socially and culturally. The Kohala Center's Hawai`i State partners include Bishop Museum's Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, the Edith Kanakaole Foundation, University of Hawai'i at Hilo, The Kamehameha Schools, The Makali'i Project, the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai'i Authority, Hawai'i Natural Energy Institute, and many others. Their mainland educational partners include Cornell University, Brown University, Yale University, and others.

Na Huapala O'Hawai'i

In addition to the spiritual and educational components, the third aspect of New Moon Foundation's focus has remained the land. To this end, a relationship developed between NMF and Na Huapala `O Hawai'i, a local 501c3 nonprofit and the funding arm for Malama Kukui Cultural Learning Center. The Learning Center is comprised of living classrooms through which visitors, residents and students may experience the Hawaiian cultural tradition of these Islands. Within this cultural knowledge base are understandings about relationships with and responsibilities to the land.

In 2001, the two organizations partnered to establish a native plant nursery at NMF with support (2001-2004) from the Hawai`i Community Foundation/New Moon Fund, US Fish and Wildlife Service/Partners Program, Karuna-Stiftung Foundation, and Rotary Club of North Hawai'i. From 2003-2007, New Moon Foundation gave annual grants of $30,000 to Na Huapala O`Hawai`i to support the expansion of the native plants nursery, its management by Na Huapala staff, the outplanting of nursery stock including hapu'u (tree ferns) and native tree species, and the education of NMF staff. In 2007, the project goals of the Na Huapala O`Hawai`i grants were completed and New Moon Foundation assumed responsibility for the ongoing management of these projects.

NMF's restoration efforts intend to benefit native plants, invertebrates, and birds. Current projects include establishment of forests for watershed and wildlife habitat; reintroduction of native and/or endangered species; ponds for wetland habitats; the reintroduction of the koloa (native duck); and improved nesting sites for the `Io (native hawk). In the future, coastal zone plants might be grown and outplanted on lower elevations of NMF's land. Each of these projects are designed to incorporate opportunities for youth and adults to engage with the land through participating in experiential cultural and educational programs. It is our intention that an increasing number of young people will be able to learn both traditional and scientific perspectives of land stewardship at New Moon Foundation.

New Moon Foundation has accepted responsibility for a traditional hale pili structure, constructed originally on Kohala High School grounds, now disassembled and awaiting reconstruction in the historic district of NMF. A hui of community organizations including New Moon Foundation, Na Huapala O`Hawai`i, Na Kalai Wa`a (Makali`i), the Kohala Hawaiian Civic Club, and other community members will share responsibilities towards the hale pili.