The Volcano Project Newsletter - Volcano House Hotel & Culinary Institute, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

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Volcano Project Newsletter

Aloha Kakou!

Mahalo nui loa - many, many thanks - for your support of the Volcano Project, our effort to transform Volcano House, the lodge at Hawaiʽi Volcanoes National Park, into a non-profit world-class hospitality and culinary arts school. It's time we updated you on where the Project stands, and we wish to further solicit your kokua - your assistance - as we continue to pursue this dream.

As of December 10th, the National Park Service opened bidding on the Volcano House concession. The demands of the prospectus are clearly geared toward large corporate operators with lots of money to spend, not to a small non-profit organization or even a local entrepreneur. In brief, the winning bidder will have to invest several million dollars upfront for renovation, return to the Park a larger share of revenues collected from fewer available guest rooms, and have a much shorter lease term in which to recoup its investments.[1] Although this appears to be a daunting goal, we are up to the task and fully intend to submit the winning bid by the deadline of March 16. After 16 months of promoting our vision through grassroots community action and various forms of networking, we have assembled a team of experts in the fields of resort management, architecture, culinary arts, finance, environmental sustainability, Hawaiian culture, and more. We plan to hit the ground running as soon as we receive notification that the concession is ours.

As you know, the vision of the Volcano Project is to transform national park facilities into operations that not only provide guests with services of the highest quality, but also create jobs and train at-risk young people for successful careers, model state-of-the art environmental care, and celebrate the history and nurture the local culture of the region; at Volcano House, it is our goal to re-awaken the “Spirit of Aloha.” The key to this vision is to put profits back into the facilities rather than into someone’s pocket, but to make this vision a reality, we need your help in one more way.

In recent months, we have worked hard to assemble the financing necessary to get our Project off the ground. Banks have indicated willingness to loan money, and appeals have been made to philanthropic organizations and individuals. However, a broad show of small contributions from thousands of citizens will make an impressive statement to those in positions to provide much larger amounts. Our strategy is to enlist celebrities to appeal to their fan bases for average donations of $10. One million donations will result in complete funding for the historical renovations and our bid.

You can be of great assistance by helping us contact celebrities and politicians. We will provide the text of letters to various individuals; if all of our petition signers would print them out, sign, stamp and mail them, and/or fax them, and/or email them, we are certain our project will garner the attention we are seeking. Just click on the links on the right (or below) of the page. Feel free to contact others, in addition to those listed. Some links have email addresses, some have physical addresses, some have fax and/or telephone numbers, or any combination thereof.

You probably realize, especially if you have seen the recent PBS series, “The National Parks - America’s Best Idea”, that we are all the owners of our national parks. The Volcano Project is one way we can act as owners and help bring the Park into line with that philosophy. If we are successful in this endeavor, it may become a model for National Park Service facilities across the country. Please take a little time now to send out those letters. This small action may have an enormous impact on the future of America’s national parks.

These are your Parks. You can make a difference!

Once again, Mahalo, Thank you, Domo Arigato, Obrigado, Salamat, Gracias, Kamsahamnida, Xie Xie, Do Jeh, Danke, Grazie, Merci, Efcharisto, Shukriya, Spasibo, Fa'afetai, Malo, Kia ora, Mauruuru, Asante... for your kokua.

[1] More details are available from the Volcano Project website, volcanoproject.org.

Click on the links below, print out the letters to celebrities & politicians, sign and mail, fax, & email them.

Oprah Winfrey, Robert Redford, Ken Burns, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Peter Coyote, Woody Harrelson, Ed Begley Jr., Jim Nabors, Richard Chamberlain, Neil Young, Stephen Colbert, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, AliceWaters, JamieOliver Senator Akaka, Senator Inouye, Congressman Abercrombie, Congresswoman Hirono, Mayor Billy Kenoi, Councilman Guy Enriques, Secretary Salazar, Director Jarvis, President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Al Gore, World Heritage Alliance