Posts Categorized: Community Giving
Saltchuk Hawaii Companies Grant $15,000 to Support Hospice Maui’s Facilities Expansion Project
April 24, 2014
(Wailuku, HI) – Saltchuk, a family owned company, and the parent company of Aloha Air Cargo, Hawaii/Maui Petroleum, Ohana Fuels, Minit Stop, Young Brothers, and Foss Hawaii has granted $15,000 to Hospice Maui toward their Facilities Expansion Project. Hospice Maui’s project includes Maui’s first residential Hospice Home as well as a new Hospice Care Coordination Center, a $3.5 million dollar project that is expected to break ground in 2014.
“The owners and management of Saltchuk are committed to supporting the communities in which we do business,” stated Saltchuk Regional Giving Committee member Kimo Haynes, President of Maui and Hawaii Petroleum, “the Saltchuk Hawaii Companies chose to support this project because we believe in Hospice Maui’s mission and feel that their Facilities Expansion project will have a positive impact on the health of the entire island community of Maui.”
In the last 12 months, Hospice Maui has served 330 patients and over 1,300 patient family members and caregivers. And over this same time period, Hospice Maui’s average daily census has doubled from serving an average of 30 patients (and their family members) in a typical day, to over 60. Hospice Maui’s facilities expansion project will allow Hospice Maui to serve many more seriously ill residents on Maui each year and improve access to the most appropriate and specialized care for the terminally ill. The Hospice Care Coordination Center will address the increased need for adequate space for the coordination of hospice care in the many settings we serve.
“Speaking on behalf of our Board of Directors, our staff, our volunteers, and the patients and families whom we serve, I am grateful to Saltchuk for their most generous gift. This project has been a wonderful example of an entire community coming together for a common goal. We have received generous support from the State of Hawaii, the County of Maui, as well as many private individuals, corporations, and foundations,” stated Dr. Greg LaGoy, Hospice Maui’s CEO, “The timing of this gift from the Saltchuk Hawaii Companies is fantastic, because it arrived in time to be generously matched by the Harold K. L. Castle Foundation and will have double the impact!” Earlier this year the Harold K. L. Castle Foundation provided a Hospice Maui with a $100,000 matching grant challenge. The challenge runs through the month of December, 2014. All new gifts to Hospice Maui toward this project, that arrive by December 31st, 2014, will be matched. To learn more about this project, the matching grant challenge, or hospice care, visit www.HospiceMaui.org or call 808-244-5555.
Saltchuk makes largest land donation in Sacramento Habitat for Humanity’s history by donating over 11 acres
February 14, 2014
Following the celebration of Sacramento Habitat for Humanity’s 100th completed home in Sacramento County, the local Habitat affiliate receives the largest land donation in their history and the foundation to build 100 more.
SEATTLE, WA – SACRAMENTO, CA – Last January, when Sacramento Habitat for Humanity CEO Ken Cross, received a call from a Seattle-based transportation and petroleum distribution company looking to donate some land, he wasn’t too sure about the call’s authenticity.
Admits Cross, “It’s very r
are for us to get land donated to us. But whenever I get a call, I always make sure to call them back… just in case”
As it turns out, the “transportation company” was Saltchuk Resources, parent company to California operations such as Foss, AmNav and Interstate Distributor Co., which also manages a large-scale commercial real estate development and management portfolio, who was soon to make the largest land donation in Sacramento Habitat for Humanity’s 28-year history.
Says Cross, “I was really glad I called him back.”
Saltchuk recently donated two properties containing over 11 acres of land to the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate. The properties, 5.4 acres in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of Neq Wah Avenue and Indian Lane and 5.7 acres at the southwest corner of Walerga Road and Don Julio Boulevard, had a total combined asking price of $709,000. The transfer and closing of the two properties was completed on Friday, December 27th.
Sacramento Habitat for Humanity just recently dedicated their 100th completed home in Sacramento last month. With the amount of land and lots in Saltchuk’s donated properties, Sacramento Habitat CEO, Ken Cross believes this land donation has the potential for 100 more.
Foss’ John Marcantonio accepted the 2014 Hammy Award on behalf of Saltchuk
When Sacramento Habitat will start building on the land is still very much up in the air as the local Habitat affiliate currently has 11 homes already under construction which they hope to be completed by years end. When they start building on the donated land from Saltchuk will depend greatly on home sponsorship financial contributions and volunteer support. A typical Habitat home costs $170,000 to build and over 4,000 hours of volunteer labor.
Sacramento Habitat for Humanity serves low-income families who provide 500 hours building their home and take on a 0% interest mortgage upon move in. To date, there have been zero foreclosures.
Sacramento Habitat recognized the generous land donation by Saltchuk at their 20th Annual Hammy Awards Dinner on February 19th.
Maui Youth & Family Services Grateful for Donation from Maui Petroleum’s Ohana Fuels
September 19, 2013
On August 28, 2013 Maui Youth & Family Services (MYFS) received a donation from Maui Petroleum as part of the company’s “Fuel Up. Do Good” program, in which a portion of the proceeds from sales of its Ohana Fuels gasoline brand are given to a community organization. Maui Petroleum chose MYFS as its 2nd quarter 2013 beneficiary organization and awarded over $3,000 to the nonprofit, which provides a range of programs and services that empower youth and families challenged with behavioral health issues to become responsible, self-fulfilled and contributing members of the community. “We cannot thank Maui Petroleum and the Ohana Fuels brand enough for their generosity,” said Jud Cunningham, MYFS Chief Executive Officer. “This donation will have a great impact on individuals and families in Maui County desperately in need of help.” The donation comes from Ohana Fuels purchases at the Minit Stop gas stations in Kahului, Makawao and Pukalani during April, May and June of this year. “Ohana Fuels is deeply committed to supporting social service organizations throughout Maui. Our goal is to assist organizations like Maui Youth & Family Services, who work to better their community and to help people enrich their lives by providing for those in need,” said Steve Wetter, Maui Petroleum General Manager.
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Aloha Air Cargo, Family Programs Hawaii Support Children
December 22, 2012
Aloha Air Cargo and Family Programs Hawaii announced a new partnership that assists the prevention of children from entering foster care, supports children and families already involved in the foster care system, and helps youths successfully transition out of foster care.
Just in time for the holidays, Aloha Air Cargo is providing much needed monetary sponsorship and awareness for FPH’s various programs by rallying the Hawaii community around a very simple, yet powerful message, “I help kids.”
“Our goal at Family Programs Hawaii has always been to provide quality care to the children of Hawaii,” said FPH Director of Development, Connie Sizemore. “Partnering with Aloha has given us additional resources to acquire more volunteers, utilize their shipping network for movement of supplies and toys for neighbor island foster kids, and relaunch the ‘I help kids’ program shirts to spread the message of our organization.”
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Foss Delivers Crucial Relief in Superstorm Sandy’s Wake
November 13, 2012
Company Applies Lessons Learned in Hati to Superstorm Sandy
SEATTLE, WA. – Even before Superstorm Sandy finished its deadly rampage on America’s East Coast, the federal government reached out to Foss Maritime Co. to provide disaster relief in devastated parts of New York and New Jersey.
The call came because officials knew of the Seattle-based company’s successful work in earthquake-torn Haiti.
The Defense Logistics Agency contacted John Tirpak, Foss’ Vice President of Marine Transportation, as communities throughout New York and New Jersey struggled to cope with the tidal surge and high winds that Sandy brought in its wake. Subways and rail lines were under water, people were trapped in homes and apartments, hospitals had no power, and vital communications centers had lost electricity.
“We knew from our work in Haiti that we had to get the necessary equipment – and the right people – to affected areas as quickly as possible,” said Tirpak. “And we knew from experience that we’d be entering a situation where chaos reigned, communication would be difficult if not impossible, and roadways would be impassable.” As a result, Tirpak designated Rob Wagoner as Incident Commander for the Sandy Relief effort due to his extensive work in the Haiti Relief effort in Port Au Prince.
Within hours Foss had relief supplies headed to New York and New Jersey. The company mobilized 26 pumps, six generators and the personnel to operate the equipment from locations across the country, trucking them to Naval Air Station Lakehurst, NJ. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers marshaled the equipment for deployment from there.
“Foss was contacted during Sandy because of the work we’d done in Haiti in partnership with the U.S. government,” said Wagoner, who helped deliver tens of thousands of tons of food and rebuild the island-nation’s main port as he oversaw company relief operations. “The Defense Logistics Agency in particular was well aware of Foss’ capabilities in the face of a natural disaster.”
Foss employees are still on duty at NAS Lakehurst, working to clean flood damage or provide electricity in communities on the Jersey Shore and New York, where nearly two weeks after the storm some services are still out.
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ABOUT FOSS MARITIME COMPANY
Founded in 1889, Seattle-based Foss Maritime offers a complete range of maritime services and project management to customers across the Pacific Rim, Europe, South America and around the globe. The company has harbor services and transportation operations in all major U.S. West Coast ports, including the Columbia and Snake River system. With one of the largest fleets of tugs and barges on the American West Coast, Foss operates two shipyards and offers worldwide marine transportation, emphasizing safety, environmental responsibility and high-quality service. See www.foss.com for more information.