Have you ever had your dream crushed?

Two years ago, Grow Good Hawaii was a tiny nonprofit with big dreams. Publication of our "Go Native" book was already helping to manifest our vision of growing native plants in urban areas to restore nature from mauka to makai (mountain-to-sea). But we wanted to do more. We wanted to not only restore nature but also help people to grow food, share food, and build community.

Together with five community partners, we applied for a highly competitive $5 million, 5-year grant from the U.S. Forest Service. It was really "swinging for the fences." But—with hard work and a solid plan—we got the grant!

Fast forward to January 2025. We'd hired our team, recruited interns, broken ground on our nursery, designed demo gardens, and were onboarding "ambassador gardeners." We were shifting from planning and preparing to digging and planting...Until January 23rd, when this administration suddenly froze federal grant funds, and it all came crashing down. We had plans to use this $5 million to benefit the people of Hawai‘i Nei.

…We were going to distribute 2,000 fruit trees…

…We were going to create 20 demonstration gardens…

…We were going to train 8 interns…

…We were going to provide intensive technical support…

…We were going to restore nature…

…We were going to bring back agricultural practices that ancient Hawaiians thrived on for centuries….

…We were going to help people save money and eat healthy…

…We were going to launch a trading platform so people could share food, know how, and labor with their friends, family, and neighbors…

…We were going to help people take control of their own future…

And, we were going to do all of this for FREE!

PLUS, we had more than a dream; we had a concrete plan.

Our plan was to help people grow more food in compact spaces (as small as 10' x 10') using small-scale agroforestry. In the "Trees for People Project," we've been working with 5 community partners, to help "backyard growers" in Waianae and Waimanalo do all of the above.

Sadly, the new administration's federal grants freeze has cut off our funding and forced us to pause the project. The funds were already earmarked, and we have a contract—a binding legal agreement—with the U.S. Forest Service. We thought we could trust Uncle Sam!

Anyway, we're moving on. Our new plan is "Trees for People DIY":

Island-wide: open to anyone on O'ahu.
Distribution: provide trees, shrubs, and other understory plants to 100 households each year.
Tech support: give hands-on growing support to up to 100 households per year. Monitor tree health manually to keep fruit trees alive.

This is a scaled-down version of the original, federally funded project, but we can still do it with your help. Can you donate to help us reach our initial goal of $50,000? This vital lifeline will allow us to continue our work for the next 3 months. Your support will enable us to:

Complete the build-out of our food and native plant nursery so we can save money by propagating plants ourselves.
Install a demonstration garden.
Help Ambassador/Mentor Gardeners create their gardens.
Buy time as we raise additional funds from foundations, corporate sponsors, and individuals.

Our larger campaign to secure $175,000 will allow us to maintain this work through the year.

I have been deeply touched that every single member of our small, dedicated team—Hilary, Kalani, Martin, and myself—is willing to work part-time for free until we raise more funding. And once we get funding, everyone is willing to take a pay cut so we can keep going. That's how committed we are to making this dream a reality for our community and for you.

Our dream to strengthen the community may have been crushed, but with your help we can bounce back and still make things happen. Please give generously today. DONATE.

Please note: There is always a chance that funding is restored. No one has any idea when or if that might happen. If funding was to suddenly be fully restored, we would be happy to refund your donation if it has not been used. In any case, your donation would help us weather future unexpected events (we are a small organization with limited cash reserves) or used for one of our many other worthwhile projects. Please help as much as you can. Donate today.

For the full story, please see below.

Help breathe life back into this dream

Dear Friend,

Picture your yard. It's been transformed into a lush garden. Juicy fruits hang from trees ready to be plucked. Your favorite veggies are growing everywhere the eye can see. And native Hawaiian plants remind you of your childhood and how Hawai‘i used to look. Now, you save money on groceries, which is great because food prices have gone through the roof. Plus, you know your kids are eating fresh, healthy fruits and veggies. You really love spending time in your garden. It's your happy place.

But your garden is not the only one. As your mind's eye zooms out, you see your neighbor's garden and then their neighbor's. Taking in even more of the neighborhood, you see that food gardens dot the landscape. A veritable forest of food and native plants stretches from the mountains down to the sea. Nature and abundance for all.

Sharing Food and Aloha

"Bzzz, bzzz!" you get a text message from your friend who lives two streets over. "Hey, can get some of your apple banana?"

Your garden—and those of all your neighbors—is so abundant that people are sharing their food on the new Mea‘ai Trading Platform. It's handy because you can get some "foodie" digital tokens by offering up your apple bananas and then use them to get whatever you want. But you don't only transact, you've met many more of your neighbors over the past few months and made lots of new friends. You not only share food but also help each other out or just hang out together.

"An urban food forest" by Martin Banuelos

Making the Dream a Reality: from ZERO to HERO

I had this "dream" and still do. It's what made me found Grow Good Hawaii, a nonprofit that helps folks create food and native plant gardens at home and in communal spaces. Bringing this dream to fruition took two years of pounding the pavement. Lots of blood and sweat, but no tears…well, until now.

After working relentlessly for many months, Hilary, my partner on this journey, and I applied for a unique funding opportunity. To our delight, we were awarded a $5 million, 5-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service's Urban & Community Forestry Program. Together with our partners, we started work on the "Trees for People Project" in May 2024. Focusing on Wai‘anae and Waimānalo, the plan was to distribute 2,000 fruit trees, promote agroforestry, establish or reinforce a network of food gardens, train a green workforce, and give people plenty of hands on support.

Thanks to our hard work, great partners, and a compelling, well-crafted plan, we pulled it off. And literally overnight Grow Good Hawaii went from an annual budget of virtually ZERO dollars to $1 million, with the money being spread out among community partners. More importantly, this was our chance—and the community's chance—to turn the dream into a reality.

The S--- hits the fan!

Fast forward nine months. We're putting in gardens, hiring interns, breaking ground on our nursery, and ramping up. But I open the newspaper one day only to see that the new administration has imposed a blanket freeze on all federal funding. Suddenly, it looks like our dream may be crushed.

How can this be? We were told that the funds were already locked down, and we have a contract with the federal government. Doesn't the "full faith and credit of the US government" mean anything anymore? Two years of hard work and hundreds of hours of unpaid sweat equity put in by Hilary and me may have vanished overnight. Poof! Gone.

It's a dark night of the soul…

When the going gets tough…

Yep. The tough get going. We have a plan. I call it "Plan C: Trees for People DIY." Without federal funding, we can't do as much, but we can still do something. We may not be able to help 2,000 households, but we think we can help almost 100 over the next year or 500 over 5 years. Continuing the Trees for People Project is more important than ever. It's crucial not only to help people weather the coming storm of inflation or to restore nature from mauka to makai, but also to give people like you and me hope.

Food is Power, and we want to help you claim yours

I was talking recently with one of our project partners and said how I think that this project is more important than ever, because it empowers people. "It's like FU money," I said. And without skipping a beat, my friend said: "Yeah, FU food gardens!"

Starting your own agroforestry food garden provides tons of benefits both to you and your community. It can help you:

Increase your food security: grow your own food to be less vulnerable to inflation, pandemics, shipping disruptions, and natural disasters.
Save money: when done right, you may be able to substantially reduce your grocery bill for many items.
Eat healthy: as regulations get gutted, food safety is becoming an even bigger concern. Grow your own nutritious food so you know exactly where it comes from.
Enjoy more shade: put in a tree and some shrubs to provide cooling shade. The climate is only going to get hotter and a place in the shade can feel 10-15 degrees cooler than full sun.
Reduce maintenance: apply proven agroforestry techniques to increase overall yields while reducing the number of inputs such as fertilizer, as well as the amount of time and effort you need to spend maintaining your food garden.
Connect with your community: many experts agree that the best way to be safe during times of crisis is to know your neighbors. Numerous studies have also shown that being part of a community contributes to a longer and healthier life. Sharing and caring makes us all stronger.
Restore nature: your little garden could become one kipuka among many that provide food and habit for native wildlife, restore native (urban) forests, and create wildlife corridors. One day you might even see an 'apapane, 'elepaio, or Kamehameha butterfly in your backyard!

Do these benefits to you and your community sound good? To enjoy them you only need a space as small as 10' x 10' or possibly even 3' x 10'. Why? Because we are going to help you to apply agroforestry so you can grow not only "horizontally" but also "vertically" and plant more densely. But don't worry. It won't be a jungle. In fact, an agroforestry garden tends to look a lot better than bare ground or grass with a few token shrubs.

And, yeah, your garden will also help you be more independent and give a big FU to people who want to control you or keep you down. Your garden can be part of your escape plan.

Don't get mad, don't get even, Get Ahead!

Even though we've gone from zero, to $5 million, and back again to almost zero, Hilary, our team, and I are willing to put in the hard work to keep going with Trees for People. Every single member of our small, dedicated team—Hilary, Kalani, Martin, and myself—is willing to work part-time for free until we raise more funding. And once we get funding, we're all willing to take a pay cut so we can keep going. That's how committed we are to this project, to our community, and to you.

But we can't do it alone. We need your help. We urgently need to raise $50,000 so that we can continue building our nursery and pay staff. The team is committed, but they need to eat, too. It took so long to find these talented, hard-working people, and it would be a shame to lose them now. We're building our nursery so we can propagate most plants to save money. And we can scrounge a lot of the other tools and materials we need. We can get a version of the Trees for People Project done on a shoestring budget. BUT…we can't replace people with robots. Grow Good Hawaii's dedicated staff is our most precious resource. They're the people who make things happen!

Can you help? A donation of any amount helps and will make us feel that our sacrifices are not in vain.

"I may be a dreamer, but I'm not the only one…"

John Lennon said it best. I've noticed that the idea of Trees for People—strengthening our food security and food sovereignty—really resonates with people. And I'm guessing that it resonates with you, too. After all, who doesn't want to increase their food security, save money, eat healthy, stay cool, have friends, and save our 'āina all at the same time?

This is your chance to ho‘oponopono, make right a wrong situation. No matter what the government does or doesn't do, we need to take charge of our own destiny, both individually and as a community. You can help us to keep going with the Trees for People Project.

Mahalo nui loa for your support. Let's keep at it. Imua!

Paul Arinaga
Founder and Executive Director, Grow Good Hawaii

P.S. As of this writing, we've raised a decent chunk of our initial target of $50,000 in pledges or donations but we need to raise the rest of the funds by March 28.$20,400. We just need to buy time to raise more funding from individual donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Please help as much as you can. Donate today!

Please note: There is always a chance that funding is restored. No one has any idea when or if that might happen. If funding was to suddenly be fully restored, we would be happy to refund your donation if it has not been used. In any case, your donation would help us weather future unexpected events (we are a small organization with limited cash reserves) or used for one of our many other worthwhile projects. Please help as much as you can. Donate today.

P.P.S. I want to introduce you to our staff, the people you will be helping so they can keep doing their jobs.

Meet the team!

First, there's Hilary Parkinson, Program Director. She found me after listening to an interview on Hawai‘i Public Radio's The Conversation and together we co-authored our book, Go Native! Your guide to growing Native Hawaiian and canoe plants wherever you live, work, or play. Hilary is our science "brain." She has an M.S. in Land Resources and Environmental Science from Montana State University and a B.S. in Horticulture from Boise State University. She's also helped to coordinate over 120 community gardens for the Greater Lansing Food Bank. Among other things, Hilary is highly detail-oriented (sometimes her Google sheets make us crazy, but we love her), but most of all, she's utterly devoted to this work.

Kalani Matsumura, Agroforestry Technical Manager, has over 20 years of experience in agriculture, conservation, and propagating plants. He was a University of Hawaiʻi extension agent in urban horticulture and UH Master Gardener coordinator on Oʻahu. Kalani is soft-spoken and unassuming, but gets things done. He reminds me of Governor George Ariyoshi's campaign slogan from many decades ago: "Quiet, but Effective."

Then there's Martín Bañuelos, Community Coordinator. Martín's father runs a landscaping business, so Martín grew up around plants. He also has experience working with a farmer in South Kona. We were immediately impressed by Martín's professionalism and preparation, which made him our #1 choice for the position. Martín is highly organized and helps us stay on track. He has also become the "darling" of our partners.

Finally, there's me, Paul Arinaga, Founder & Executive Director. I've been called a "serial social entrepreneur." I co-founded the Genki Ala Wai Project, started the Go Native Project to encourage more people to grow native Hawaiian and Polynesian-introduced plants in urban landscapes, and got funding to work with 'Iolani School to test the use of floating islands of native plants to clean the waters of the Ala Wai Canal. I also, of course, had the initial vision for the Trees for People Project and, with lots of help from Hilary and the rest of the team, made it happen. In introducing me, someone once said: "What makes Paul different from most people is that he actually has a plan to get us from Point A to Point B." I have a plan now, but I need your help. WE need your help. Please give generously. Mahalo nui!

GROW FOOD, GROW NATURE, GROW PEOPLE

Our dream was trampled by the new administration, but we're back with a new plan to create food-producing islands of resilience across Hawai‘i