The Garden Island: Namahana moving to next step in Kilauea

Read the original article here: https://www.thegardenisland.com/2023/08/05/lifestyles/namahana-moving-to-next-step-in-kilauea/

By Dennis Fujimoto The Garden Island | Saturday, August 5, 2023, 12:05 a.m.

KILAUEA — Melanie Parker, the executive director for the Namahana Education Foundation, was thrilled to receive a match gift of $500,000 in unrestricted funds from Kilauea residents Mike Kaplan and Rose Contreras.

“These funds will be used to support our next phase of work,” Parker said. “The match gift campaign will run through Dec. 31, 2023, and all subsequent gifts raised up to $500,000 will be matched dollar for dollar.”

Earlier in May, the NEF received a $420,000 match gift from an anonymous donor that enabled the Land Acquisition Campaign to raise $1.4 million toward the purchase of the 11.3-acre parcel in Kilauea to secure the land as a permanent site for Namahana School.

“We knew that raising the necessary funds in such a short period of time would be a real test of our capacity,” Parker said. “The last few months have been astonishing and humbling, and we are deeply honored by all the people who helped us secure the Kilauea site as a permanent home for Namahana School.”

The $2.1 million property that is on the future main access road to Kilauea from Kuhio Highway was offered to the school on the condition that at least $1.1 million be secured in cash by June 9. The Land Acquisition Campaign received a major boost when an anonymous donor presented a matching gift challenge to reach the $1.1 million, the gift galvanizing a large number of other donors.

“We have not yet closed escrow on the property,” Parker said on Wednesday. “We are in the final stages of our due diligence, which includes pending county approvals in order to close escrow. Once we finalize due diligence, we plan to close.”

With property in hand, the Namahana Education Foundation, the nonprofit organization that oversees fundraising for the North Shore school, will finance the remaining purchase amount to help build the organization’s credit for future financing, and focus efforts on the next phase of the school’s facilities construction.

Pending approvals from the county, Namahana will apply for a special use permit for which it must demonstrate community support through a public hearing. The school leadership is also working with the Honolulu architectural firm Group 70 to finalize campus design.

Temporary facilities will be the first set of constructions in a sequential buildout that will require a dedicated long-term campaign of its own.

The Kilauea couple’s match gift of $500,000 launches the next fundraising initiative and motivate others to support Namahana School’s preopening needs.

“We’ve been watching closely from the beginning as this inspiring project has evolved, and we know just how much it will lift up our community,” said the couple, who are longtime Kilauea residents.

“Having an accessible middle and high school for local children is a goal that has mobilized North Shore families for years, and we believe that Namahana has the perfect team to make it happen.”