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Living Pono Project asks Maui Council for $100,000 proviso and urges continued funding for resilience hubs
Summary
The executive director of the Living Pono Project told the Maui County Council that the nonprofit feeds more than 700 families monthly and asked for a $100,000 proviso plus that county resilience-hub funding remain at $600,000 with $200,000 allocated to Hana.
Annie, executive director of the Living Pono Project, urged the Maui County Council on May 16 to add a $100,000 proviso to the county budget to continue the nonprofit’s Basket program and to preserve funding for resilience hubs.
"This is not just food. It's dignity," Annie said, describing the Living Pono Project’s work feeding "over 700 families every month" with locally grown produce and Hawaiian staples.
She told the council the Living Pono Project was placed in a $1,000,000 agriculture recovery pot by Council Member Gabe Johnson but requested a $100,000 proviso specifically for the group’s Farm-to-Family program to continue its basket distribution. Separately, Annie said the county’s resilience-hub line item is currently at $600,000 with a $200,000 proviso identified for Hana; she asked the council not to reduce the overall $600,000 and suggested $200,000 be evenly allocated to each of seven Phase‑1 hubs previously identified by the mayor’s Office of Innovation.
Why it matters: Council members asked clarifying questions to determine how the request fits into existing budget language and line items. Rollins Fernandez confirmed the Living Pono Project is registered with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs as "Living Pono Project" and that council staff had identified the $1,000,000 pot as the Ag Recovery/Food Production appropriation. Fernandez and other members pressed for the precise line-item location of the request during the public-testimony period.
Details and context: Annie said the seven Phase‑1 resilience hubs have completed planning, community input and in many cases leases, and that if each hub received $200,000 they could move into implementation. In her limited time she also read a family’s submitted testimony recounting direct help received after the Lahaina fires.
Council procedure note: Testimony on budget items occurred during a public-comment segment; no formal council action on these requests occurred during the remarks recorded in the transcript.
Ending: Members thanked Annie for her testimony and asked staff to confirm the line items and proviso language as the council proceeds with budget deliberations.
