From left: Nico Leilani Verissimo, Imiloa/UH Foundation Development Manager; Akito Toba, President of Tokyu Foundation and President of Mauna Lani Resort Operations; Momi Shoemaker, Director of Corporate Administration, Mauna Lani Resort Operations; Imiloa Executive Director Kaiu Kimura; UH Hilo Chancellor Don Straney; and UH Hilo/UH Foundation Senior Director of Development, Margaret Shiba. (Photo courtesy of Imiloa)

MEDIA RELEASE

UH Hilo’s Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii has received an $8,000 donation from the Tokyu Foundation in support of the Adopt-A-Visit Field Trip Program at Imiloa.

The gift will fund field trip costs to the center for Big Island students.

At a time when local schools face challenges securing funding to augment the science and math education taught in their classrooms, the Adopt-A-Visit program makes it possible for these lessons to come alive for Big Island students. The program subsidizes visits by local classes to Imiloa, underwriting admission and transportation for the keiki.

“We are grateful for the generous gift from the Tokyu Foundation to support the Adopt-a -Visit program,” said Imiloa’s Executive Director Kaiu Kimura. “This donation allows our local schools access to Imiloa’s informal science education programs that help enrich teachers’ curriculums and creates an educational learning experience children will remember for the rest of their lives.”

The Adopt-a-Visit program was established in 2008 with the ambitious goal of giving every student on Hawaii Island a field trip of discovery at Imiloa.

A generous grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation subsidized transportation, admission, and lunch for K-12 Hawaii Island students’ visits to Imiloa.

Energized by the generosity of the Moore Foundation and the momentum it generated, the Big Island community, observatories, businesses, and transportation partners joined in with their own financial support. Their contributions were matched on a 2:1 basis by the Moore Foundation.

To broaden the impact and extend the experience into community households, each visiting child was given an “Imiloa Ohana Visit Pass” to take home so they could bring their families for a visit at a later time.

Four years and 35,000 student field trips later, the program continues to serve as a dramatic manifestation of the wisdom “It takes a community to raise a child.”

To support the Adopt-a-Visit program at Imiloa, call the Imiloa Development Office at (808) 969-9732 or email nverissimo@imiloahawaii.org.

— Find out more:
www.imiloahawaii.org
www.uhfoundation.org
www.uhh.hawaii.edu