Weinberg Grant To Farm Project

Thanks to the help of Rotarians who renovated the Atherton YMCA in town, the Family Education Center of Hawaii (FECH) has received a $10,000 boost from the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation.

The center will use its Weinberg Friends grant to expand its services to a small farm facility in Waimanalo, which will offer teen internships, host field trips for school groups, and conduct family programs on sustainable farming and effective family leadership.

The Weinberg Friends grant encourages community groups, such as the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunrise in this case, to perform a community service project and then dedicate the $10,000 Weinberg reward they earn from it to another nonprofit of the club’s choice.

Since 2004, the nonprofit FECH has been running sustainable sciences programs for youths and their families with the goal of college enrollment and success in life. Designed to help families under stress adapt and restore harmony, FECH also has high school interns running a small farm in Manoa, while their families plant and cultivate their own gardens in nearby plots.

The group has support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state Department of Health’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse division, and the UH Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.