Hanalei School Foundation Raises Funds Through Golf Tournament

The Hanalei School Foundation staged its 3rd Annual Golf Tournament at Makai Princeville Golf Course on Sunday, November 9, offering participants a full day of play and community fundraising. Registration opened at 8 a.m., with a 9 a.m. shotgun start and an expected conclusion around 3 p.m. The event combined recreational activity with philanthropic purpose, with a post round silent auction and live music to round out the afternoon.

Entry fees were set at 200 dollars per player, a package that included greens fees, cart, a continental breakfast, lunch, an event swag bag, a commemorative tee shirt, and entry into on course activities. At that price, a full foursome contributes 800 dollars in gross registration revenue, before accounting for event costs. The tournament page included registration instructions and emphasized that proceeds fund classroom enrichment for Hanalei keiki.

For Kauai County residents the immediate impact is twofold. First, the funds raised support enrichment classes and teacher lines managed by the Hanalei School Foundation and Hanalei PTA. These resources pay for programs beyond basic classroom supplies, and teacher line funding can mean sustaining positions that provide lower student to teacher ratios or specialized instruction. Second, hosting the tournament at Makai Princeville Golf Course generates local economic activity, with greens fees, food service, and event logistics supporting vendors and seasonal employment in Princeville.

From an economic perspective, community fundraisers such as this one illustrate how local education nonprofits and parent teacher associations supplement public funding in small rural systems. Ticketed events internalize some program costs while offering donors a social and recreational benefit. They also carry explicit budget tradeoffs. Organizers typically offset direct event expenditures before calculating net donations, so the 200 dollar registration fee must cover both participant amenities and the fundraiser component. The recurring nature of the tournament, now in its third year, suggests organizers have found a replicable model that balances participant value with net proceeds for school programs.

Policy implications are worth noting for county and state stakeholders. Reliance on private fundraising to sustain enrichment and teacher lines can produce uneven outcomes across communities with different capacity to mobilize donors and volunteers. For Hanalei, sustained community engagement helps maintain program offerings, but longer term stability would benefit from coordinated funding strategies that reduce dependence on intermittent events.

The tournament reinforced local ties and highlighted a pragmatic approach to funding school needs. For families and residents, the event translated leisure spending into educational support, channeling dollars from registration and the silent auction into programs that directly serve Hanalei students.