About Us
The Big Island Giving Tree (BIGT) is a dba non-profit organization of Redeeming Light International. It is made up of volunteer community members from around the island. The BIGT's mission is to bring God’s light into dark places. Over the years the BIGT’s services and blessings have touched thousands of residents on Hawai’i Island.
Our focus is on working families who struggle to make ends meet while making an honest living, paying their own bills, providing for their families as best as they can with what they have, families who are in transition of housing, and families who have experienced an unforeseen circumstance (house fire, death of a parent or caregiver, sudden illness, lost of a job etc.)
BIGT is a year-round program with lots of opportunities to bless those who are really in need. Each referral is carefully screened to ensure that the recipient is truly in need and is not just looking for a free handout.
Take a look at our history page.
Our focus is on working families who struggle to make ends meet while making an honest living, paying their own bills, providing for their families as best as they can with what they have, families who are in transition of housing, and families who have experienced an unforeseen circumstance (house fire, death of a parent or caregiver, sudden illness, lost of a job etc.)
BIGT is a year-round program with lots of opportunities to bless those who are really in need. Each referral is carefully screened to ensure that the recipient is truly in need and is not just looking for a free handout.
Take a look at our history page.
Our Programs
The Kupuna
We also deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to the Kupuna who live in Elderly Housing Complexes around the island from Waimea, Kohala, Honoka’a, Hilo, Keaau, Kona, Captain Cook and Kealakekua. Kupuna are on limited incomes and most cannot afford to eat healthy or buy fresh food. Donations from farmers are always welcomed.
We also deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to the Kupuna who live in Elderly Housing Complexes around the island from Waimea, Kohala, Honoka’a, Hilo, Keaau, Kona, Captain Cook and Kealakekua. Kupuna are on limited incomes and most cannot afford to eat healthy or buy fresh food. Donations from farmers are always welcomed.
Working Families
Here are a few examples of what BIGT does to help families survive:
- A family is in need because dad lost his job but mom still works full time, she has had the same job for 13 years - but they still cannot afford to pay the current rental prices for the size of their family.
- A family of six could not rent a two- bedroom apartment which they can afford because they were told that it was too small for that size of the family. As a result they were in need of a tent, a cooler and bath towels.
- A family saw their family torn apart after they lost their parents in a car accident. The children are now being raised by their aging grandmother and were in need of school supplies and school clothes.
- Another family lost their home and two children to a house fire - they needed a freezer with food to feed their family.
- Two young children -ages three and five - were abandoned by their mother who chased after her boyfriend. They now live with a friend of the family. That family friend already has six children of her own. All of her children were in need of clothing, pull ups, wipes and food.
- A Kupuna living alone was in need of a ride to the doctor’s office, someone to do her grocery shopping and help clean her apartment, she has no family except for a sister in Ka’u who is 86 years old. The BIGT helped her with her grocery shopping, brought her to and from the doctor's office every month and tidied her apartment.
- A single mother raising her three sons alone needed food this summer to keep everyone fed. The BIGT showed up with food, basic needs items and some fun activities for her young family.
Back-to-School
The BIGT blessed 110 students from all across the Big Island to prepare for the 2015-2016 school year. The BIGT purchased all required school supplies for each student. There were no applications, all students except 4 were referrals from agencies, churches, mentoring programs, neighbors, teachers, friends etc. When they were contacted they were very surprised that someone would come to assist them with their children's school supplies.
The summer months and the winter months are the hardest for working families. Children are all home on break, which means all the utilities are on most of the day and night, causing an increase in monthly bills. The least we can do is alleviate the burden of buying school supplies for the fall.
The BIGT blessed 110 students from all across the Big Island to prepare for the 2015-2016 school year. The BIGT purchased all required school supplies for each student. There were no applications, all students except 4 were referrals from agencies, churches, mentoring programs, neighbors, teachers, friends etc. When they were contacted they were very surprised that someone would come to assist them with their children's school supplies.
The summer months and the winter months are the hardest for working families. Children are all home on break, which means all the utilities are on most of the day and night, causing an increase in monthly bills. The least we can do is alleviate the burden of buying school supplies for the fall.
Waimea Thanksgiving Meal
2015 will be the first year BIGT puts on a Thanksgiving Meal in Waimea at Hawaiian Homes Hall. This meal is for the less fortunate, the Kupuna in the Waimea Community. The BIGT is partnering with Creighton Sanchez of C&R All Around Services and his family of Waimea.
2015 will be the first year BIGT puts on a Thanksgiving Meal in Waimea at Hawaiian Homes Hall. This meal is for the less fortunate, the Kupuna in the Waimea Community. The BIGT is partnering with Creighton Sanchez of C&R All Around Services and his family of Waimea.
Christmas Day Meal
An annual hot turkey meal for all the Kupuna Housing Complexes on the west side of the island. Sansei’s restaurant cooks 40 turkeys and all the fixings to feed nearly 500 Kupuna families.
An annual hot turkey meal for all the Kupuna Housing Complexes on the west side of the island. Sansei’s restaurant cooks 40 turkeys and all the fixings to feed nearly 500 Kupuna families.