Matson Donates Two Containers to Habitat

L to R: Kaua`i Habitat Construction Supervisor Pablo Herrera, Exec. Director Stephen Spears, Matson VP Vic Angoco, Matson Lihue Dewayne Kong, AmeriCorps Member Mike Muir, AmeriCorps Member Ryan Carmichael. Courtesy photo

Kaua`i Habitat for Humanity Awarded Donation of Containers from Matson

Hanapēpē, Hawai‘i, October 4, 2012 – Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity is pleased to announce receipt of a generous donation of two forty foot shipping containers from Matson. The containers are critical to Kaua‘i Habitat’s ongoing work around the island as they provide much needed storage and shelter for tools, materials, and equipment used on their job sites.

“With the containers onsite, we can continue to keep costs low, and efficiently build affordable homes,”said Executive Director Stephen Spears. “We are so grateful for this wonderful donation from Matson. We can have safe, secure storage of materials and equipment we need on a daily basis to build homes for our partner families wherever we are building. On-site storage really cuts down our fuel costs since we will no longer need to transport from baseyard to job site.”

Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity recently completed its 108th home and is now building three homes on Dept. of Hawaiian Homelands property. Construction will begin on another five in the coming year. Its Repair and Renovation Program is also underway, and the affiliate is currently seeking applications for the program from homeowners who own and reside in their homes in the towns of Waimea and Kōloa. All homeowner applicants must meet Habitat guidelines, including having household income between 30-80% of the Kaua‘i median income. Work continues on infrastructure development for Kauai Habitat’s ‘Ele‘ele Iluna subdivision, site of the next 107 Habitat homes.

About Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity
Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity is a local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, an ecumenical, nonprofit, Christian housing ministry. Its mission is to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world – one house at a time on Kaua‘i – and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Through volunteer and homeowner labor, and donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses.

Kaua‘i Habitat features two main home building programs: New Home Construction Program and Repair and Renovation Program. Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity also operates ReStore®, which sells new and used discounted building and construction materials and household items to support the affiliate’s mission. Since 1992 Kaua‘i Habitat has built 108 affordable homes and made critical repairs to 19 existing homes for Kaua‘i families whose household income is between 30-80% of the median Kaua`i income. Because the critical need for affordable housing continues to persist on our island, Kaua‘i Habitat has pledged to scale up our capacity and build our next 100 homes by 2021.

For more information, to donate or to volunteer, click here, or follow us on FaceBook or Twitter (@kauaihabitat).

About Matson Inc.
Founded in 1882, Matson is one of the leading U.S. carriers in the Pacific. Matson provides a vital lifeline to the island economies of Hawaii, Guam and Micronesia and premium, expedited service from China to Southern California. The Company’s fleet of 17 ships includes containerships, combination container and roll-on/roll-off vessels and custom-designed barges. Matson Logistics, established in 1987, extends the geographic reach of Matson’s transportation network throughout the continental U.S. Its integrated, asset-light logistics services include rail intermodal, highway brokerage and warehousing. Additional information about Matson, Inc. is available at www.matson.com.

Matson recently became an independent publicly traded corporation based in Honolulu; after two decades of its charitable support being handled via the A&B Foundation, Matson recently formalized its own corporate giving program, the Matson Foundation, which contributes funds, material goods and services to assist in the development and operation of not-for-profit, charitable and community organizations in the geographic locations which the company serves.