Nearly 30 organizations were named Monday as recipients of a $380,000 award through the Puna Strong grants program.
The Puna Strong program was launched in January by Hawaii County and the Hawaii Community Foundation to assist with disaster readiness and community resilience in the wake of the 2018 Kilauea eruption.
The county contributed $250,000 to the program in recovery funds, while the HCT contributed $130,000 from three separate funds.
On Monday, the program announced that 26 organizations will receive grants for projects ranging from diet education and invasive pest management, to mental health counseling and lessons on how to make poi.
The 26 grant recipients are:
• Ahava ‘Aina
• Arts &Sciences Center
• Big Island Invasive Species Committee
• Boys and Girls Club of Big Island
• Equality HI
• Fern Acres Community Association
• Food Ingredient and Health Research Institute
• Girls to Women Mentoring Hawaii
• Grassroots Church Pahoa
• The Green Will Conservancy
• Hawaii Animal Kuleana Alliance
• Hawaii Tracker
• Hawaii’s Volcano Circus
• Kanaka O Puna
• Kua O Ka La
• Kukulu Kumuhana o Puna
• Kurtistown Assembly of God
• Malama O Puna
• O Maku‘u Ke Kahua Community Center
• Orchidland Neighbors
• Pohaha I Ka Lani
• Project Hawaii
• Puna Canoe Club
• Puna Rising
• Uncle’s Kokua Center
• Volcano Friends Feeding Friends