PGA Tour loss dries up more funding for Hawaii charities
By Kristen Consillio
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HONOLULU (KITV) — As local nonprofits fight to survive with dwindling funding, many agency’s are now facing another huge blow.
“This is a major loss for Hawaii,” said Keith Vieira, a board member for the Friends of Hawaii Charities.
The PGA Tour is the flagship fundraiser of the Friends of Hawaii Charities, which helps dozens of nonprofits stay afloat every year.
“A lot of these charities are very small charities who don’t really have the size or ability to do the fundraising necessary to survive,” Vieira said. “I would say it probably averages a million to $2 million a year.”
But now that the PGA Tour has cut the Sony Open and The Sentry at Kapalua next year, the future of many nonprofits is uncertain.
“Friends of Hawaii Charities yearly does sometimes over 200 to 300 of them,” Vieira said. “It could be startup costs. It could be some maintenance. It could be as little as $3,000 or $4,000. It could be as much as $20,000.”
The charities help Hawaii’s women, children, elderly and impoverished. And with federal funding cuts and higher costs, many nonprofits could be forced to consolidate or shut down.
“When we see, you know, events like the PGA Tour go away that not only affects the visitor industry market, but it also has a ripple effect,” said Kimo Carvalho, head of HomeAid Hawaii. “It is one major hit to a bigger problem. The more that happens, the more of a nonprofit funding crisis can become more eminent.”
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