A&B Donates $25K to Fire Recovery Effort at Kahului School

Kahului Elementary School fire 11.24.17 PC: Julia Young. Aftermath (11.25.17) PC: Asa Ellison

Alexander & Baldwin today announced it is donating $25,000 to assist with recovery efforts at Kahului Elementary School after a fire damaged classrooms over the Thanksgiving weekend.

“A&B has a long history with Kahului Elementary and we are devastated that it’s been hit with a fire, for a second time in seven years. Generations of A&B employees’ children have gone to school there and we are honored to do what we can to help the students and their families to continue the school year, uninterrupted. Despite this setback, we are confident the Kahului Elementary ohana will come back even stronger,” said Chris Benjamin, A&B president and CEO.

Kahului Elementary is located in the heart of “Dream City,” a residential community developed by A&B in 1949 to provide plantation workers an opportunity to own their own homes. Historically, many of the school’s students came from families who worked for A&B’s HC&S sugar plantation, or one of the company’s other businesses.

“We’d like to thank Alexander & Baldwin for their generosity. The outpouring of support from the community has been incredible and we are so appreciative,” added Kahului Principal Keoni Wilhelm. “The school and department have been working diligently to assess the damage and move forward with getting the campus up and running at 100 percent.”

Supporting local communities is part of A&B’s strategic commitment to Hawaiʻi. Since 2012, the company has invested more than $1.5 billion in Hawaiʻi and contributed more than $5 million to local non-profit and community organizations.