Donate

Your donation will greatly support the mission and programs of the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum. There are a few ways to donate. Take a look below to learn how you can help. Mahalo!

You can donate via UH Foundation via the links below or write a check made out to the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation with the department you want to donate to in the memo section

How will donations to the specific funds be used?

  • Lyon Arboretum General Fund: Your donation will support our ongoing activities, projects, and more. Money donated this way will be distributed among the Arboretum’s departments.
  • Lyon Education Department: Your donation will support the Education Department at Lyon Arboretum, which oversees guided tours, school field trips, adult classes, university field trips, volunteers, internships, and outreach. Money donated this way will support Lyon Arboretum’s mission by enabling us to serve Hawaii’s keiki and teachers and continue to provide outreach and community programming.
  • Grounds and Collections Department: The Grounds and Collections Department cares for our living plant collection, builds and maintains our trails, and manages the records of our collections. The Arboretum could truly not exist without the hardworking Grounds and Collections Department!
  • About the Hawaiian Rare Plant Program (HRPP): Lyon Arboretum’s conservation work is carried out in two labs: the Micropropagation Laboratory and the Seed Conservation Laboratory. Together they make up our Hawaiian Rare Plant Program (HRPP). The HRPP works to save Hawaiʻi’s most critically endangered native plants. You can support our conservation efforts by donating to one or both of our labs!
    • HRPP – Micropropagation Lab: Micropropagation is a powerful tool in conserving endangered plant species. It is especially valuable when conserving extremely rare plants, plants with unhealthy plant stock, or plants with seeds that are difficult to store or germinate.
    • HRPP – Seed Conservation Lab: Support the conservation of native Hawaiian plants through seed research and seed banking at Lyon Arboretum. Lyon’s Seed Conservation Lab is also responding to the Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD) crisis afflicting our state.
  • Horticulture Department: The Horticulture Department processes and cares for new plant materials, works with Grounds and Collections to care for our living plant collections, and organizes our plant sales. The Horticulture Department also works with our Education Department to provide living plants for outreach events.

Your support of any of our departments is truly appreciated. Mahalo nui loa!

Other ways to give

Donate your time: We love our volunteers, and with almost 200 acres to care for, we can always use the help. Check out our volunteering page for more information.

Donate to Lyon Arboretum’s endowment: If you wish to donate to our endowment itself, please contact us directly. You can call our office at (808) 988-0456 or email our Interim Director, Don Drake, at dondrake@hawaii.edu. These funds are distributed among our departments to support the operation of the whole Arboretum.

Donate to the Grounds and Collections Department’s Endowment: You can also support the Grounds and Collections Department by donating directly to its endowment.

Donate on the University of Hawaii Foundation website: There are multiple funds that support the Arboretum. You can donate to a specific fund to direct your money to a specific department, or you can donate to our “General Fund” to benefit all our departments.  

More information about these funds is also available on UHF’s own website. See the list below for the relevant fund.

Didn’t find what you were looking for? If you wish to support a specific area of the Arboretum but didn’t see your area of interest listed, please contact us directly!

You can call us at (808) 988-0456 or email our Fiscal Officer, Kyle Koza, at kkoza@hawaii.edu.

Thank you for supporting Lyon Arboretum!