Honoring the past, enriching the future!
by Kepa Maly, Executive Director
We are humbled and privileged to report to you that support of the Lana`i Culture & Heritage Center (Lana`i CHC) has been great. Since opening our doors as a non-profit community heritage center on October 1st, 2007, we have hosted more than 4,500 participants in our programs; raised more than $40,000.00 through community donations; received a commitment of $50,000.00 a year for three years from Castle & Cooke, along with use of the present center; received a gift from Ho’opa’a i ka Na’auao in the amount of $61,000.00; secured a $30,000.00 grant from Maui County and the Hawai`i Tourism Authority; and received a major grant of $750,000.00 from the Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to help develop a permanent home for the Lana`i CHC.
Our goal is to ensure that the legacy of Lana`i remains an integral part of our community. Over the last ten months many efforts have been initiated and options explored to make a permanent home for the Lana`i CHC. After lengthy discussions between our board members with Castle & Cooke, program specialists and interested parties, we have determined that the most secure route for a sustainable future of the Lana`i CHC is to seek available property in Lana`i City on which to set the foundation of the heritage programs. The vision is to develop both fixed exhibits (more typical of museum settings for valued items) and living history collections, where Lana`i’s residents and visitors can experience the heritage of Lana`i.
We are also planning a controlled archival collection storage and conservation area, and community heritage library, which will house historical documents, photos, maps, textiles and other items of importance to Lana`i’s people and past.
To make this community vision a reality, and to ensure that the programs are sustainable, we need the help of everyone who cares for Lana`i. Many hands will make the work easy to complete. We are now preparing to enter into a capital improvements fundraising campaign to secure a site, and your help is needed. If we are to protect and pass on Lana`i’s history, we need families to donate cherished items reflective of the diverse cultural heritage of Lana`i. If we are to be good stewards of the artifacts and historical collections, and ensure that the rich history of Lana`i is passed on to future generations, we need a larger facility and financial support to offer the programs.
We hope that you might support the Lana`i Culture & Heritage Center, by sharing history and important materials of our past, and through contributions to our fundraising efforts. Your monetary donations are tax-deductible, and you will also have the satisfaction of knowing that you are helping to pass on the legacy of Lana`i’s heritage to future generations.
The Lana`i CHC is presently located in the Old Dole Administrative Building (Room 126), at 730 Lana`i Avenue, and is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. Special arrangements for off-hour visits may be made as well. For more information please contact us. Also, more information on heritage center programs may be viewed on line at www.LanaiCHC.org.
Mahalo a nui,
Kepa Maly, Executive Director
(Board members: Pamela Mae Alconcel, Martha Evans, Colbert Matsumoto &Â Gary Yokoyama)
