Volunteers are the lifeblood of many Hawaii nonprofits, and volunteering provides health benefits; yet, Hawaii has one of the worst rates of volunteerism in the United States.
Hawaii is ranked low, 45th out of 50 states, for volunteerism in the latest United Health Foundation America’s Health Ranking analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The foundation studies volunteerism because the social aspects are good for health.
Only 19.7% of Hawaii’s population ages 16 and over reported volunteering in the past 12 months as compared with 23.2% for the U.S average. The top state was Utah at 40.7%, and the bottom state was Florida at 15.8%.
That’s down from 2019, when Hawaii outpaced the national average of 30% with 32.1% of Hawaii’s population ages 16 and over reporting that they had volunteered in the past 12 months.
Statistics like these and reports of growing demand for volunteers from nonprofit organizations, especially small to midsize ones, support nonprofit organization Kanu Hawaii’s call for more residents to consider increasing their volunteerism, especially in April, which is officially recognized by the state as Volunteer Month.
Executive Director Keone Kealoha said Kanu Hawaii started in 2006 when a group of 40 friends “recognized that the Hawaii that they grew up in was kind of changing and they didn’t want to lose that sense of community.”
“From the very beginning, Kanu Hawaii has been about encouraging people to make a personal commitment to positive change in Hawaii,” Kealoha said. “Our local culture is to take care of each other, but we need to practice aloha or we’ll lose it.”
Increasing demand for a declining volunteer base during the COVID-19 pandemic inspired Kanu Hawaii to become a leader in the drive to get the state Legislature to codify the value of volunteering.
National Volunteer Week is celebrated across America April 21-27, but since 2023 in Hawaii, volunteers are celebrated all month long. In 2022 the state Legislature passed a bill and Gov. David Ige signed Act 81 into law recognizing April, beginning in 2023, as Volunteer Month in Hawaii.
“Larger organizations have been able to bounce back more quickly from COVID and the Maui wildfires. It’s the small and medium-sized nonprofits and community organizations that took the biggest hit,” Kealoha said. “Rebuilding takes time.”
Jessica Lani Rich, president and CEO of the nonprofit Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, which helps visitors in crisis, said it was difficult for VASH to maintain volunteers during COVID-19 because many didn’t want to go out or had medical problems.
“We lost maybe 30% or 40% of our volunteers coming out of COVID-19. However, we put out a call for a volunteer training last year, and we’ve made up for the volunteers that we lost,” she said.
Rich said VASH has put volunteers to good use as demand has been climbing. In 2023, Rich said, VASH handled 543 cases and 1,416 visitors, and early into 2024 the number of incidents is higher.
Rich said a reason that VASH’s volunteer base was so affected by COVID-19 is that many of the nonprofit’s volunteers are seniors.
“The majority of our volunteers are retired,” she said. “We try to recruit for younger volunteers as well, but we’ve found that younger volunteers are often working two or three jobs, so they don’t have as much time. Hawaii people are very generous, so if our volunteer numbers are low, it is probably because of the high cost of living.”
Nicole Schafer Crane, executive director of the Kaua‘i Humane Society, said disasters tend to hit Hawaii nonprofits hard, and KHS’ volunteer count is only about two-thirds of the way back since COVID-19. She said Hurricane Iniki also challenged nonprofits, as did the more recent Maui wildfires and Kauai flooding.
“We’re generally a small nonprofit, and we are the only shelter on Kauai,” she said. “If a large disaster were to strike, we don’t have the supplies to help at the level that we would want to assist.”
Schafer Crane said KHS is hosting a disaster preparation fundraiser from today to April 28. Patrons can make a monetary donation to 808ne.ws/3vYQmqk or shop KHS’ Amazon wish list at 808ne.ws/KHSAmazonlist.
She said KHS has augmented its volunteer base by adding visitors, who are a large part of Kauai’s daily census, to its volunteer recruitment.
“I think our ranking of 45th demonstrates how difficult it is to survive in Hawaii. Many people have a second if not a third job, and that just doesn’t leave time for volunteering,” Schafer Crane said. “We have resident volunteers, but in general Kauai doesn’t have a large population, so you look for other opportunities like visitors and part-time residents and businesses.”
Kealoha said Kanu Hawaii has partnered with the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority to connect visitors to volunteer opportunities on the state’s official tourism website. Visit GoHawaii.com/malama or GoHawaii.com/voluntourism to see them.
Schafer Crane also expressed gratitude to the businesses that support nonprofits by offering group volunteer opportunities or paid time off to their workers so that they volunteer.
Kealoha said support for volunteering is increasingly becoming a recruitment tool as today’s workers see volunteerism as important to their quality of life. Retirees also realize the benefits, he said.
“It helps to thwart the sense of loneliness. The surgeon general put out a report that loneliness is on the rise. Volunteerism helps break down barriers and build relationships,” Kealoha said. “It gets people out of their digital isolation.”
Lori Yuh can attest to the benefits of volunteering. After retiring as a registered nurse, she began volunteering for Lanakila Pacific Meals on Wheels twice weekly and the Friends of the Library once weekly.
“Volunteering keeps me busy since my retirement. It gets me out of the house. I don’t need to spend money. I get to meet other retirees and socialize. They’ve become good friends,” Yuh said.
Janet Araki and her daughter Aya also see the benefits of volunteering together at Lanakila Pacific Meals on Wheels.
“My daughter was part of the Lanakila employment services program. This is a way for her to branch off and experience job training. She wants to get a job,” Araki said. “I like to volunteer because helping people makes me happy. Giving back is important.”
Lanakila Pacific Meals on Wheels Director Lori Lau said volunteer support from Lanakila families is a way that the organization keeps its base of volunteers stable, which is important because volunteers vastly outnumber staff.
“We only have five employees that work to oversee, and we have somewhere between 150 to 175 volunteers coming in every week to help us,” Lau said. “We truly couldn’t do this without their support.”
Lanakila Meals on Wheels provided 328,835 meals to qualifying seniors and individuals with disabilities, and 564 volunteers helped to pack and deliver meals, according to its fiscal year 2023 annual report.
Lau said having a clear and tangible essential service mission and a strong culture of appreciation for volunteers has been even more critical to attracting and retaining volunteers.
“Our mission and our purpose is very easy for people to understand and support. We are all aging,” she said. “We will celebrate our volunteers during volunteer appreciation week. We are trying to make a even bigger deal of them and say an even bigger thank you; although, I would like to think that we say thank you all year long.”
VOLUNTEER RANKING
Percentage of population ages 16 and over who reported volunteering in the past 12 months:
Top states
1. Utah 40.7%
2. Wyoming 39.2%
3. Minnesota 35.5%
4. Maine 34.9%
5. South Dakota 34.2%
Bottom states
50. Florida 15.8%
49. Nevada 16.8%
48. California 18.3%
47. Alabama 19.5%
45. Hawaii, New Mexico 19.7%*
* tied for 45th
Source: America’s Health Rankings, United Health Foundation
