Five Kauai nonprofits just got a financial boost to keep Hurricane Lowell recovery efforts moving, after the HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union Foundation handed over a $20,000 gift split among groups working across the island. The money arrived with a promise that it would start working right away, with no waiting period before recipient organizations could put it to use.
According to The Garden Island, the gift was brought over by HawaiiUSA FCU CEO Greg Young and Vice President of Lending Chris Garnett, and it is being shared among The Salvation Army, the Kauai United Way, Malama Kauai, the Hawaii Community Foundation, and the Hawaii Foodbank Kauai. The five groups were chosen by HawaiiUSA FCU for the diversity of work they do in communities across the island. Young said the grants take effect immediately, a detail that underscores how quickly credit union officials wanted the money moving into recovery work tied to Hurricane Lowell, which brushed Kauai on Sept. 7 and 8.
HawaiiUSA FCU said it hopes the gift will help the recipient groups support Kauai's ongoing storm recovery, according to the same report. The $20,000 presentation adds to a broader pattern of relief dollars flowing to the island since the storm passed.
A Wider Wave of Storm Relief Dollars
The HawaiiUSA gift lands alongside several other recovery efforts already underway on Kauai. Rotary District 5000 received a $25,000 Rotary Disaster Response Grant and is partnering with Malama Kauai, one of the same organizations now also receiving a share of the HawaiiUSA funds, to use it, per the same report from The Garden Island's earlier coverage. Separately, the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation has awarded $457,000 to 17 nonprofits through its Stronger Hawaiʻi Initiative since Hurricane Lowell impacted Kauaʻi County, as reported by Kauai Now. Within that pool, Mālama Kauaʻi received $50,000 earmarked to help farmers and ranchers recover, while Hawaiʻi Foodbank Kauaʻi received grants of $100,000 and $10,000 for food distribution and preparedness resources.
State government has also stepped in with a larger-scale response. The Kauai Hurricane Lowell Business Recovery Grant Program will provide one-time grants of $5,000 or $10,000 to eligible non-agricultural small businesses and nonprofit organizations, according to Hawaii News Now. The $2 million program is funded by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and administered by the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, with applications reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis until all funding is exhausted. Agricultural businesses and producers will be supported through a separate state recovery assistance program, the station reported.
Earlier Credit Union Storm Relief
Months before Hurricane Lowell, the HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union Foundation said in a May 5, 2026, statement that it was committing $55,000 in statewide relief for communities recovering from severe storms. The credit union also told members it was offering assistance options for existing loans and share certificates, access to short-term relief loans for storm-related expenses, and complimentary one-on-one financial coaching.
On the disaster-declaration front, a presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for Hawaii, identified as FEMA-4952-DR and dated Oct. 7, 2026, was issued concerning Hurricane Lowell, according to the Federal Register. That federal action sits alongside the state and nonprofit funding streams already reaching Kauai residents and organizations in the weeks since the storm.
