Hawai’i Rotary District 5000 supports student vocational training in Food Innovation Center

Dedicated members of Rotary Maui Fires Relief Advisory Committee, alongside Rotary D5000 District Governor Ted Faigle, visited the University of Hawai’i Maui College to see how Rotary support for student vocational training was conducted at the college’s Food Innovation Center.

This program received a generous $22,000 grant from the Maui Fires Relief Fund, which allowed 17 students from Lahainaluna High School to engage in three comprehensive courses that cover food prototyping, recipe testing, scaling production, business planning, financing, packaging/labeling and marketing. The classes were led by Chef Doug Paul at the UH facility and culinary arts teacher Colin Delos Reyes at the Lahainaluna campus.

Out of the 50 students enrolled from Lahainaluna and Baldwin high schools, eight selected participants will have the opportunity to join program director Angela Gannon at the Kapiʻolani Community College farmers market as part of the Youth Entrepreneur Program.

In response to the August 2023 Maui wildfires, Hawai’i Rotary District 5000 established within a week the Maui Fires Relief Fund through its foundation. Since its inception, the fund has offered immediate, intermediate and long-term aid to wildfire survivors.

The Rotary Maui Fires Relief Advisory Committee has convened weekly since the fires to evaluate proposals from local Rotary Clubs for various projects. This committee meticulously assesses each proposal to ensure the effective allocation of funds. To date, more than 80 projects have been funded, totaling more than $1 million in support for these initiatives.

According to Faigle: “One of the key ways that our Rotary clubs serve the community is through vocational service. We are so happy to be able to support young people from Lahainaluna High School with this vocational opportunity. By working with wonderful partners like the UH Maui Food Innovation Center, we are able to increase our impact and to support economic development for the island.”

Rotary in Hawai’i boasts around 1,500 dedicated Rotarians across 52 clubs spread throughout the islands of O’ahu, Maui, Kaua’i, and Hawai’i Island. Rotary D5000 is part of a global network of 1.4 million Rotarians, including neighbors, friends and community leaders committed to fostering positive, enduring change both locally and internationally. Maui is home to nine Rotary Clubs.