HANAPEPE — Monday was an exciting day for Milani Pimental, the executive director for Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity, which started a week of activities that include groundbreaking for a new project, start of a new project and finishing of a housing project in ‘Ele‘ele.
Adding to that excitement, Pimental was visited by Valerie Cooper, the Fair Trade Committee president at Kaua‘i Coffee Company, and Fred Cowell, the Kaua‘i Coffee general manager, who presented a check for $17,203 from the committee to Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity.
“This is not Kaua‘i Coffee,” said Cowell. “This is the employees of Kaua‘i Coffee. I’m here just to bring the check and hold it in the wind.”
Cooper said the amount represents the earnings from the 2021 and 2022 years, when the funds could not be distributed from the committee, which was started in 2018. The check to Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity is the start of the Kaua‘i Coffee Fair Trade Committee’s work to distribute a total of $120,000 to various community organizations on Kaua‘i during the month of June.
Other named organizations scheduled to receive checks include the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank, the Boys &Girls Club of Hawai‘i, The Salvation Army, the Kaua‘i United Way and Catholic Charities.
Kaua‘i Coffee is Fair Trade Certified.
“What that means is that we not only have a rigorous set of standards that we are required to follow, but we also sell any of our coffee that is designated Fair Trade at a premium,” Cooper said. “That premium goes into a fund called the Community Development Fund that is managed and owned by the Kaua‘i Coffee employees that Fair Trade refers to as premium participants.”
Cooper said the idea is to empower employees to address the most pressing needs of their families and surrounding communities, such as food security, housing, access to education and child care, health services and other health and sanitation issues. The funds can be used for community infrastructure projects, community services, addressing transportation needs and more.
Premium participants elect a committee tasked with creating a plan on how to spend the funds based on a needs assessment conducted by the committee, to determine the top needs for employees, their families and communities.
Following expenses, the fund is split into internal distribution that goes to employee participants by way of cash bonuses or in-kind goods, and half being distributed to organizations or projects within the community that address needs decided on by the committee.
Kaua‘i Coffee receives the premium and gives it to the premium participants, who are the actual owners of the money. The Fair Trade Committee, made up of elected representatives for each area of the Kaua‘i Coffee workforce, is a nonprofit established as an entity separate from Kaua‘i Coffee.
“For the 2021 and 2022 funds, each of the named organizations will receive 15 percent of the funds designated for distribution from both 2021 and 2022 funds,” Cooper said. “This comes out to $17,205 that will go to each organization, representing $12,000 from 2022 and $5,206 from 2021.”
Additionally, Cooper said, “We have chosen a cash-bonus option for our employees (including temporary and contract employees) that totals $80,000 and will be distributed based on hours worked the previous year.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
