Sponsor Shout-Out: Hawaiian Airlines Team Kōkua
Hawaiian Airlines has a long-standing history with Bishop Museum. Among the many initiatives they support, their diligent service to the local communities across the islands of Hawaiʻi reflects the care they take towards areas of education, culture, and sustainability. As a consistent donor to the Museum’s annual fundraiser, a sponsor for POW!WOW! Artist Collections 2021 and other events and programming, Hawaiian Airlines has contributed their resources and efforts to vital cultural endeavors that the Museum strives to keep alive and active for the people of Hawaiʻi and global visitors.
To strengthen that growing relationship, last year Bishop Museum’s Corporate Relations team welcomed the earnest support of Hawaiian Airlines’ Team Kōkua volunteers. In coordination with the cultural and natural science departments, every month volunteers give a few hours of their day to assist Museum staff with a few of their ongoing projects.
Debbie Nakanelua-Richards, director of community and cultural relations and Manakō Tanaka, senior community and cultural relations manager, led the volunteers and shared the importance of Team Kōkua and the collective impact they have on their local and global communities. Their volunteer program is involved in an array of projects focusing on areas from education to health and beyond. Sharing further context and insight, Manakō commented:
“Team Kōkua began some years ago in its formal state, but volunteering and being in service to our company began long before it was given this name. All employees of Hawaiian Airlines are eligible to participate … Many activities are also opened up to guests and ʻohana of our employees, as well as retirees. The kōkua is grounded in being unskilled, but willing to reach out and assist the communities that we serve and doubling-down on support with sweat equity. Whether it’s removing weeds, distributing food, or assisting with check-in at a fundraiser, Team Kōkua is trainable and enthusiastic. We do this not only in Honolulu but also find ways on neighbor islands and around the world to engage our employees through Team Kōkua in a way that demonstrates that we freely offer time to the charitable causes of the communities that we serve.”
Monthly volunteering took many forms in different collections spaces, including plant mounting with the Botany team, article referencing and sorting for the Entomology staff, and prepping Castle Memorial Building with the Exhibits Department to both install and de-install the Museum’s in-house exhibit: Ka ‘Ula Wena: Oceanic Red.
We are proud to continue this partnership into 2025 and express our deep gratitude for their contributions to the Museum’s ongoing efforts. This year, Hawaiian Airlines was a sponsor of the 17th Annual Mālama Hāloa Kalo Festival & Symposium, held on campus from Feb. 28 – March 2. This three-day event began Friday, kicking off the Mālama Hāloa Mahiʻai Kalo Youth Conference, the first of its kind. In attendance were 200 students, grades 7-12, from Kamehameha Middle and High Schools, Waolani Judd Nazarene School, Papahana o Kaiona, and Hālau Kū Māna. With the guidance of their Kumu and Museum staff, students listened to the stories of community partners and local Mahi ‘ai who work directly with Native Hawaiian kalo varieties, deepening their understanding of kalo’s role in Hawaiian cultural tradition and agricultural practices. Rotations included panel discussions from visiting ‘Ohana, art activities with stamping and painting, and cooking workshops where Team Kōkua volunteers were stationed to lend a helping hand.
Saturday was hosted by Ka Papa Loʻi ‘o Kānewai, stewarded by Edward “Hiapo” Cashman, his ‘ohana, and staff for their monthly First Saturday Community Workday. Community workdays are a tradition going back to 1980 and the revitalization of the current taro patch. Visitors and community members alike can visit, learn about the many kalo varieties, and tend to the fields firsthand.
Sunday welcomed well over 2,000 visitors to the Museum for the official day of Mālama Hāloa Kalo Festival & Symposium, spotlighting the ‘ohana kalo ʻapuwai. Programming included mele and panel discussions with ‘Ohana Kahakalau and many community partners, represented at booths to greet and educate visitors on their efforts to protect native plants and perpetuate sustainable practices. The day was made free to the public by the generous assistance of Hawaiian Airlines, and Team Kōkua volunteers eagerly manned the “Plant-Sitting Station,” where many of the native plants purchased and given away could be labeled and set aside to allow visitors a chance to explore the galleries and exhibit spaces within the Museum. Practitioners and visitors alike exchanged and learned ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi, creating an atmosphere of true community and aloha.
Manakō Tanaka shared: “Bishop Museum specifically is a major part of the thread of Hawaiʻi, and for us it is an honor to be able to contribute within its walls. As a stronghold of Hawaiʻi culture, its preservation is both a treasure to our community, as well as guests who fly with us. We recognize that its preservation is paramount to maintaining the blueprint for who we are, and for mapping out who we have become here in Hawaiʻi. Additionally, it is a repository of Hawaiian language, especially knowledge maintained in Hawaiian language, which is something at the core of community & cultural relations work at Hawaiian Airlines.”
In addition to the festival, Hawaiian Airlines is also a sponsor for 2025’s Celebration of Mary Kawena Pukui Public Programming. Their generous donation of HawaiianMiles will also provide our staff, researchers, and visiting collaborators with a means of transportation to continue their critical efforts in the community.
Kaelyn Okuhata, director of corporate relations and partnerships at Bishop Museum expressed her thoughts on her team’s approach to steward mission-led partnerships:
“It is important for Bishop Museum to establish these relationships with like-minded corporate partners like Hawaiian Airlines, whose values align with the Museum. The work being fulfilled here through these partnerships prove how interconnected we are in Hawaiʻi, and the importance of supporting one another in any way possible to reach a common goal.”
We are incredibly grateful to the support of Team Kōkua and all our corporate partners in our shared commitment to ensure the preservation, celebration, and perpetuation of Hawai‘i’s history and cultural significance with both the local community and visitors from all over the world.
To learn more about becoming a partner, visit: BishopMuseum.org/CorporateGiving or email our team at CorporateRelations@BishopMuseum.org.
