Page 54 of Big Island Horizons
She hefted the box and nudged another one, full of recycled bottles that kids had brought in from home.
“You grab that one, would you?”
Nate and Tenn stood chatting outside. Lani dropped the box she carried and ducked under Tenn’s arm; her nerves settled visibly as he put his arm around her.
“Mommy!” Kiki shouted when she spotted her.
‘Olena set the box down and opened her arms to her girls. She hadn’t seen them since Saturday morning, which had been downlight painful. But she had made good use of that time to research all of the ins and outs of creating a nonprofit.
“Did you have a good weekend?” she asked them.
“We did bowling!” Kiki shouted.
“We even went on a boat,” Luana added. “It was so much fun!”
The comfort of knowing that her daughters were safe and happy when they were away from her outweighed the pain of being apart from them… if only barely.
Nate walked in their direction, and ‘Olena straightened.
“Okay if I stick around today?” he asked.
“Sure. You can help the kids make elephant toothpaste.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ll show you, Daddy!” Luana said. “It’s so much fun.”
“The recipe is in the box,” ‘Olena told him.
It was an easy science experiment that the parents could run, and a messy one that was best done outside. Between the playground, lunch, and a bit of chemistry, the kids were set for the day.
While the other parents took the reins, she would work on figuring out a way forward. If she needed to start a nonprofit to keep the community center open, that’s what she would do. Not just for the co-op, but for all of Pualena.
It wasn’t as if she planned to spend a whole lot of time inside of the building anyway; that would defeat the purpose of the playschool. She had created it to keep her girls out of cinderblock rooms, away from fluorescent lights and mind-numbing rules.
But it would be nice to have a place to spend their days when the rain was flying sideways. Walls where they could hang up their artwork, a roof to shelter long-term projects. Carting everything around and managing this growing community while bouncing from one spot to another was starting to wear on her.
“Thanks for running things today,” she said to Lani and Tenn. “I’ll be here if you need anything, but I’m going to be working on getting this nonprofit off the ground.”
“No worries,” Tenn said. “If there’s anything else we can do to help, just let us know.”
“Thanks.” ‘Olena spotted Linda Rasmussen in the distance, and she walked across the lawn to meet her.
The weekly soup kitchen had no official leader, but Linda was the one who ‘Olena saw there week after week without fail. She had been showing up for years, and she had been the first person to come to mind when she needed allies to save the community center.
“So you want to group them both under one nonprofit?” Linda asked once ‘Olena had explained their situation.
“The nonprofit wouldn’t control the co-op; that would remain separate, in the hands of the parents. But the nonprofit would officially be in charge of New Horizons. Then any community-run groups, like my co-op and your soup kitchen, would be free to use the space.”
“And the nonprofit would assume liability so that the county can be hands off.”
“That’s the idea.”
“What does it take to start an official nonprofit?”
“Nothing too crazy. I just filled out some forms and registered it with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. I’ll have to register with the Hawai‘i Attorney General’s Office too, if we want to be able to solicit donations for the soup kitchen and such.”
“So what do you need from me?”
