History

The Hawaii International HOPE Foundation (HIHF) was established May 3, 2000. On June 8th, the founder returned from Cambodia after a one month visit where he spoke at length with individuals who operated shelters for disadvantaged youth. When the subject of possible assistance by HIHF was raised, all he spoke with were very encouraging. Key needs of these youth were identified as shelter, food, and education, in addition to general care and affection.. The founder returned with $600 worth of handicrafts purchased in Cambodia, Philippines, and Thailand for resale to support our program.. After June 8th, two members of HIHF began selling these items, plus macadamia nuts, herbs, and noni tea in front of retail locations in Kona, Hawaii, at bed and breakfasts, and through friends and friends of friends.. An article about our organization and it's mission appeared in the West Hawaii Today newspaper, and this resulted in both donations and inquiries about participating in our work. Our web site was established August 1st to explain our mission and to provide an additional source of sales of these products. Concurrently, much time is spent communicating with those who operate small shelters in the region to determine how we might best help.

During the course of explaining our mission to others, four individuals said that they would like to make contributions once we had gained 501 c 3 status, and gaining this status has become a main focus of our recent efforts. Likewise, we have begun researching other sources of donations and methods of soliciting them. From August 7th, we began actively recruiting the assistance of others and in the last week have accepted three new members. A full meeting of the members of the board was held August 9th in Kona. At that time we began drafting our by-laws and working on finer details of running the organization. A decision was made that officers would receive no monetary compensation for their work and that membership would be open to all who wished to participate. Labor was divided and short term goals were set. More effort will now be placed on recruitment of volunteers. Our target is to raise sufficient funds by June 2001 through sale of products and donations to conduct a one month program in Cambodia in July of that year. This will help to relieve pressure on existing orphanages and shelters and provide a learning opportunity for those who help. During the first three years, we will operate one month programs each year, most likely in Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia. We will invite the managers of three shelters in Phnom Penh to send seven children each to accommodations we will rent in Sihanoukville. We will provide transportation, shelter, education centering on English language and life skills, as well as recreation activities for these 21 children during this period.. Three years down the road, assuming our sources of generating income are stable, we intend to build a small, ongoing orphanage, staffed largely by paid Cambodians.