Aloha Kākou!
In the summer of 1996, I had the opportunity to participate in the State of Hawai‘i DLNR Youth Conservation Corps. As a 16‐year‐old young man, I worked long days from mauka to makai, often returning home covered in mud, cuts and bruises; I was so sweaty and filthy that my mom would make me do a separate load of laundry just for my work clothes! I loved every exhilarating minute of that experience, and it further defined a sense of purpose and responsibility to my community. From that summer on, I knew that helping to protect Hawai‘i’s natural resources and directing youth like myself towards a more sustainable future was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Today, I am honored to have the privilege of serving alongside you to create and offer valuable hands‐on training programs that educate and mentor Hawaiʻi’s youth to become stewards of our culture and environment. Attached you will find a copy of Kupu’s 2015 annual report along with a short highlight video recapping last year. We are happy to share some of the tremendous impacts we had last year with the support of over 150 community partners.
In 2015, Kupu engaged 323 youth as members in its programs, helped 13 individuals receive their high school diploma equivalency, and leveraged close to 6,000 volunteers that further worked to preserve our natural and cultural resources. Altogether, Kupu's programs had an economic benefit of over $14 million to the community. What is even more inspiring are the lives we are changing through putting our youth on a pathway to success both personally and professionally by providing them with the training, experience and skills needed to serve their communities and preserve our precious natural resources. This past year alone, 96% of alumni reported gaining employment and/or enrolling in higher education upon completion of the program. This is phenomenal considering 51% of incoming participants would have been left unemployed if they had not been engaged in our programs. We hope that you enjoy reading some of the stories and learning more about the great work we have accomplished together.
2017 marks Kupu’s 10‐year anniversary. We are so grateful to our supporters, partners, volunteers and the community who have worked alongside us for the last decade to empower future generations in creating a more sustainable, pono Hawaiʻi. Mahalo nui for your continued support!
Me ka haʻahaʻa,
John Leong
Chief Executive Officer, Kupu
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