Daniel Moefu-Tautofi became acquainted with Hawai‘i Literacy programs as a high schooler through his grandmother, who runs the family libraries at two public-housing complexes in Kalihi. Now 20, he continues to volunteer at the two sites, helping with whatever needs to be done: reading to youngsters, cleaning, assisting with food distributions, even posing as Santa during holiday events.

“I thought it was pretty cool making connections with kids that grew up in the same background as I did,” he said Friday while pulling worn and torn books off the shelves at the Towers at Kuhio Park site and cataloging new ones. “Giving back in any type of way, it was heartwarming for me.”

Moefu-Tautofi, who grew up in low-income housing in Palolo Valley, went to college on the mainland for one year before returning home when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He resumed the volunteering he had started in high school.

But many others didn’t persist, and Hawai‘i Literacy’s family library program at the Towers at Kuhio Park and Mayor Wright Homes lost about half of its roughly 100 volunteers, who included members of service organizations, Chaminade University student clubs and even the Kaimuki High School varsity football team, according to program manager Rini Moefu, Moefu-Tautofi’s grandmother.

Because the program operates indoors and at public-housing complexes, a number of helpers dropped out due to health and safety concerns, Moefu said. “Some volunteers were willing to come out and some didn’t, and I understand that,” she said.

Hawai‘i Literacy, which saw a drop in volunteers in its other programs as well, isn’t alone. As the country marks National Volunteer Week, officials with several local nonprofit organizations say they too saw their volunteer rolls shrink over the same period, and many have yet to recoup even though COVID-19 has waned. Other agencies report the pandemic exposed the depth of community hardship in the islands, motivating residents to get involved.

Hawaii was one of a handful of states that saw double- digit declines in “formal volunteering” between 2019 and 2021, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps survey. The survey showed that while the share of isle residents volunteering through organizations increased to 32.1% in 2019 from 28% in 2017, the figure dropped to 19.7% in 2021 — down 12.4 percentage points.

Nationally, formal volunteer participation dropped 7 points between 2019 and 2021, the largest decrease since the survey started in 2002. (See accompanying story.)

Hawai‘i Literacy is heavily dependent on volunteers for its free programs, many of which involve one-on-one tutoring. “We can’t do it without volunteers,” said Executive Director Jill Takasaki Canfield.

The agency managed to keep its services going during the pandemic, pivoting to online tutoring in many instances, but did experience a decline in volunteers, she said.

“Some of it’s just that in the thick of COVID, some of the people who volunteered were in higher-risk groups and understandably were not able to continue,” Takasaki Canfield said. Others found more demands on their personal lives during the trying period and said, “I can’t right now,” she explained, while still others moved away.

“But even though our numbers were down, we saw people who were more committed to showing up, and we are so grateful to them.”

The agency also managed to find new volunteers in the communities it serves. Takasaki Canfield said several residents at Mayor Wright Homes and the Towers at Kuhio Park became involved in the family library and digital literacy programs there, “and that’s pretty cool.”

‘Always recruiting’

Ninety percent of American Red Cross activities in Hawaii are conducted by volunteers, according to spokesperson Matthew Wells. This includes running health, safety and preparedness training, manning emergency shelters and installing free smoke alarms under the “Sound the Alarm” campaign just underway this week.

The agency has roughly 2,000 volunteers in the region that includes Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and Saipan.

“Yes, we saw our numbers drop, but that was because so many of our volunteers were in that demographic of being retirees, those that would be considered the vulnerable population as far as COVID is concerned,” Wells said. “It’s a hard ask — could you please put yourself at risk in that way at a shelter — and we understand that.”

In some cases, reluctant volunteers were redirected to other efforts within the organization, he said, but many were interested only in helping at shelters and “bowed out after a while.”

“We definitely have been putting emphasis on boosting up our numbers among students, both in high school and college clubs, and that’s been fantastic,” Wells said. “But time will tell whether they turn into long-term volunteers.”

In the meantime the American Red Cross “is always recruiting,” he said, especially now as its preparedness campaign gears up for the 2023 hurricane season.

Connected to mission

The Hawaii Foodbank’s role as a first responder of sorts during the pandemic, when many households sought help for the first time as unemployment soared, created a high demand for volunteers and also underscored its mission, said Marielle Terbio, director of community engagement and strategic initiatives.

The organization’s average monthly volunteer count in the last fiscal year was 569, including regular volunteers who work at the food bank’s warehouse and those who turn up for special events. So far in the current fiscal year, that number has grown to an average monthly count of 741 volunteers, with a core of 200 to 250 regulars, according to Terbio.

“For us the major part of that increase is because we’re back to doing events now. Our annual food drive day is in August, and that’s not something we’ve held for the past couple of years because of COVID,” she said.

While staffing community food distributions has not been a problem, Terbio said there has been some attrition in other areas.

“A lot of folks who came out to volunteer (at food distributions) felt connected to our mission because they faced food insecurity themselves. More people understand that because of the pandemic,” she said. “Now that … things are getting back to normal, we are seeing less volunteers coming in on the weekdays to help out with the sorting in the warehouse because they have to go back to their jobs, and kids are back to school and college students who would come in to help are back in school, so we’re actually seeing pre- pandemic numbers as far as volunteers during the weekdays.”

The Hawaii Foodbank is recruiting help with sorting for the May 13 “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive by the National Association of Letter Carriers.

‘Volunteering mindset’

The Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation has seen its volunteer count bounce back in a big way to over 18,200 in fiscal year 2022 after pandemic lows of fewer than 4,000 helpers.

“With city facilities closed and activities suspended during the pandemic, people weren’t as enthusiastic about volunteering in large groups,” said spokesperson Nathan Serota, adding that the city still benefited from good Samaritans who worked on their own to clean beach parks and pick up litter.

Since then Hawaii’s “volunteering mindset” of wanting to give back has kicked in, Serota said, and DPR is seeing renewed interest from school groups, service clubs and others seeking volunteer opportunities at botanical gardens, nature preserves, community gardens, Adopt-a-Park and other programs.

“A lot of the same people started coming back, and we’ve also seen an increase in events and more people wanting to give back,” said DPR volunteer coordinator Scott Ka‘eo. “The COVID thing had everybody afraid to be around people, and with that washed away, people are excited to give back to the community.”

Serota said DPR isn’t taking the recent surge in volunteers for granted. The department opened an online survey this month to gather public input on its volunteer services in order to collect data and improve the experience.

Supporting kids

Even as its mainland counterparts reported volunteer losses, the opposite has been true for Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawai‘i, which has seen a “slight” increase over the past year, according to Chief Operating Officer Tyler Kurashige.

“We were surprised by that because nationally we did hear that volunteerism was down, and for Big Brothers Big Sisters across the nation, volunteerism has also gone down,” he said. “I don’t know what to attribute (the local increase) to.”

It could be a new online volunteer portal launched right before the pandemic that made it much easier for prospective “Bigs” to engage with the local organization and get information. “That’s us in Hawaii being creative,” said Kurashige, who also speculated the pandemic spotlighted community needs.

“I know everybody talks about the need to really support kids’ social and emotional needs, and there are so many ways to give back,” he said. “We’re definitely one of those organizations that when it comes to helping kids and supporting them through friendships and mentoring, I think our name comes to mind, and people want to volunteer because they want to give back to kids.”

Kurashige said there was a wait-and-see attitude at the start of the pandemic, “but as people got into the groove of wearing masks and social distancing, we started to bring in more volunteers.”

Big Brother Big Sisters Hawai‘i is averaging 20 new volunteers a month, he said, “and that’s a really good amount as far as the long-term relationships we’re trying to build.”

The agency has about 200 volunteers — many of them young professionals — on Oahu, Maui and Kauai who are paired with children and teens age 6 to 16. Although the numbers might sound small, Kurashige said the one-on-one relationships “take a lot of work” and often stretch over years.

“In general the commonality is that they want to give back, and we’re seeing more people who have the time and resources to give,” he said.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawai‘i has plans to bring back its after-school program in September in which high schoolers mentor youngsters at 23 elementary schools in largely low-income communities.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

>> American Red Cross: Volunteers are needed in a range of tasks including administrative and fundraising support, student leaders, disaster response, sheltering, feeding, community preparedness presenters for adults and children, health and safety instructors, damage assessment and armed forces services; redcross.org/local/hawaii.html.

>> Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawai‘i: Children and adults on Oahu, Kauai and Maui are matched for one-to-one mentoring and friendship. Matches hang out at least twice a month and do activities such as going to the beach, watching movies or sharing a meal; bbbshawaii.org.

>> Hawaii Foodbank: Help is needed with food inspection and sorting weekdays at the 2611 Kilihau St. warehouse, and packing and loading cars for drive-thru distributions; hawaiifoodbank.org or email volunteer@hawaiifoodbank.org.

>> Hawai‘i Literacy: Tutors are needed for adult and digital literacy and English language learner programs, with additional volunteer opportunities in bookmobiles, family literacy libraries and the office; hawaiiliteracy.org.

>> Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation: Volunteer opportunities are available in Adopt-a-Park, community gardening, bench donations, mural paintings, parks, botanical gardens and nature preserves; honolulu.gov/parks. Take the 21-question Volunteer Programs Survey at surveymonkey.com/r/parksvolunteersurvey.