2013-39 Way Testimony re SPP 1122

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self - esteem, leadership, and other vital social skills. Instructors lead by example and help students learn how to work together and guide newcomers in their learning. Our staff not only model leadership skills, but also train others in these skills, leaving a legacy of confident, caring future leaders in their tracks. We serve the community in partnership with local public charter schools. HVC serves families and the local community by offering a facility for a school in our neighborhood. we partnered first Waters of Life Public Charter School for two years and then Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science (HAAS) Public Charter School for four years. This year, we are happy to include Kua 0 Ka La Public Charter School to the list of schools that we are partnering with to serve children in our area. Without the option of a school at SPACE, kids must go to Pahoa for school every day. That's a 30 mile round trip each day. If they need to ride the school bus, which many do because their families don't have a reliable car, the children must leave home at close to Gam and return around 4 to 4:30pm. This is for a school day that runs from approx. Sam -- 2pm. Families deserve to have schools closer to home and SPACE makes that happen. There are two other organizations along the Red Road that serve the Puna Makai community: Kalani Honua and Uncle Robert's. Lower Puna desperately needs services like these! I love the diversity of offerings that are available through this trio. As it happens, SPACE has the greatest number of programs for kids. And we all know how important it is to keep our keiki positively engaged. So as you can see, we do serve the community. And all of this we do on a shoestring budget. Our staff consists of two part -time administrators (myself and Maura, who manages our farmers' market) and four part -time staff members (two of which are teens), each working ten hours a week or less. Our average budget for the past three years has been $79,000. Compare this to the Pahoa Community Center's budget of $132,000/year, over 67% more than ours. And I'm sure that many more people come to SPACE in a year than go to the Pahoa Community Center. No for - profit business could run these programs with the budget that we have. The only way we can accomplish this is through our amazing network of volunteers. We have volunteers who help at the market, the school, community performing arts classes, and maintenance and cleaning of our facilities and equipment. In doing so, we act as an example for our youth. It's not just adults who volunteer for us — kids and teens also pitch in. We offer them the opportunity to learn what it means to be of service and we know that this will continue for the rest of their lives. How do we know? we've been doing circus youth programs for 25 years and so have seen many of our circus kids grow to adults and remain active in their community here on the Big Island or wherever their lives take them. The person who volunteers the most is Graham Ellis; who is our Board Chair, Hiccup Circus instructor, and all - around go -to guy. Graham spends hours each month working for SPACE and HVC, and doesn't receive a penny. He is strictly a volunteer. I have heard a multitude of rumors that Graham is personally getting rich off of HVC and SPACE. I personally sign all of the checks and I can tell you that no one is getting rich here. As much as we rely on our volunteers, the past three years have been over - taxing on them, particularly since receiving the Cease and Desist order. We cannot rely on this level of commitment indefinitely. This is why we need the income from performances and fundraisers in order to become economically