Malama Kai Foundation

Aloha Neighbors and Friends,

For over 30 years, Malama Kai Foundation has been fulfilling our marine resource stewardship mission by supporting the statewide Day-use Mooring Buoy (DMB) Program, implementing youth educational programs, providing education and outreach regarding current ocean and coral reef habitat issues, and supporting various community-based conservation programs and projects. We are known for our balanced, respectful approach to working with conservationists, marine resource users, policy-makers, and the general public.

We have accomplished a lot together in 2022! We established two educational scholarship programs. The first, the Hawaii Youth Camp Scholarship Program, will support access by Hawaiʻi youth to outdoor education camps focused on marine and coastal environments. The second, the George A. Wilkins Memorial Scholarship, will provide financial support to college-level students who are Hawaiʻi residents and pursuing degrees with a focus on marine technologies, oceanography, marine science, or coastal management. Additionally, with the help of corporate partners, we continue to inspect, repair, and maintain Hawaiʻi’s day-use mooring buoys. We are excited to announce our new DMB website, www.hawaiimoorings.com. Here you will be able to view the location of Hawaii’s DMBs and their status, as well as submit a maintenance request. MKF also co-sponsored an evening reception and a student-mentor connection luncheon at the 45th US Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) Meeting, held in Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i at the Outrigger Kona Resort in late August. The USCRTF leads U.S. efforts to conserve and protect coral reef ecosystems and the theme of this meeting was Co-management of Coral Reef Communities. MKF is grateful to Hawaii State Representative (and MKF co-founder) David Tarnas for his wonderful opening remarks at the evening reception. In early 2023, we will resume our Reef Talks program on Hawai’i Island, to provide free opportunities to learn about stewardship and marine life in our communities.

Your previous support provided critical resources that allowed us to make the impact we did. Our work is more important than ever, and we cannot do these things without your help. As we expand our programs, please consider continuing your support of Malama Kai Foundation. Your donation will make a difference to our community and marine resources by enabling us to sustain our programs and activities. The Malama Kai Foundation, and future generations, thank you!