Matching Gift of $500,000 Yields Over $1M for Namahana School
Continued Philanthropic and Community Support Enabling Initial Campus Buildout
PRESS RELEASE- February 7, 2024 - Namahana Education Foundation (NEF), the nonprofit organization that oversees fundraising for Namahana School, today surpassed a creative fundraising challenge designed to raise $1 million for Namahana School’s pre-opening needs, when a total of $500,000 from both community members and local foundation North Shore Give were doubled by a generous matching gift from Mike Kaplan and Rose Contreras. This funding, as well as the momentum of donors and the community mobilizing across Kaua‘i’s North Shore, supports Namahana School's rapidly approaching opening in 2025. NEF continues to seek capital and community support to accelerate the next phase of the initial campus buildout.
“Mike and Rose Kaplan’s generosity forged a channel for 48 others to support Namahana’s mission,” said Melanie Parker, executive director of Namahana Education Foundation. “With people like Mike and Rose at our side inspiring the community to fully participate and give, we really believe our ambitious dream to build the very first public, tuition-free middle and high school for children on the North Shore of Kaua‘i is within reach.”
“A school is, at its heart, a reflection of the community that it serves,” said Mike Kaplan. “This is even more true for a school like Namahana, which is designed so purposefully around a community-based ethos. That’s why we feel that the fundraising needed to build Namahana should also be a reflection of the community that it will serve. Our gift was an invitation to the entire community to participate in this exciting process. The result of our shared efforts will be an amazing school that will benefit everyone on the North Shore—not just the families whose children are enrolled there.”
North Shore Give (dba for the Kaua‘i North Shore Community Foundation) also made a $500,000 grant to Namahana School, $200,000 of which was doubled by the Kaplan-Contreras matching gift. The community foundation is central to Namahana School’s history, having guided and incubated the project in its earliest years.
“We are thrilled to work alongside Mike and Rose, and so many other incredible people who are committed to strengthening educational opportunities for North Shore families,” said Lorri Mull, who led the initiative to create a charter school back in 2015 as chair of Kaua‘i North Shore Community Foundation’s Education Committee. “Educational access, equity and excellence have been pillars of our work for more than a decade, and to see them brought to life by Namahana School is nothing short of a dream come true. We couldn’t be more honored to partner in a project that will profoundly uplift our community. We also hope many more will join us as NEF prepares for the most exciting phase yet, which is the construction of Namahana’s campus and welcoming its first cohort of students next year.”
With fundraising currently vital to Namahana School’s institutional growth, NEF recently hired a chief development officer, Bridget Thorpe. “We are extremely lucky to have Bridget on our team,” said Parker. “Not only did she attend middle and high school on Kaua‘i, and therefore understands our needs firsthand, but she brings a unique blend of skills in organizational strategy, innovation and communications in both corporate and nonprofit settings.”
NEF must raise critical funds for pre-opening needs such as water, electricity and transportation infrastructure, and facilities to house its first cohort of students. Thorpe will work closely with NEF staff and volunteer leadership to implement a fundraising strategy that supports the school’s next set of milestones, culminating in its opening in Fall 2025.
