At UH Hilo’s Fall 2026 Community to Campus Fair, 25 local groups arrive to give students their full support

Posted on by

The gathering gave students the chance to meet with people from local human services and environmental agencies to discover services that support success both on and off campus.

2026 Community to Campus Fair collage: Students and faculty at the info tables, a community engagement specialist at the podium, and a selfie of organizers.
In the two photos at top, students, faculty, staff and administrators enjoy the September 1, 2026, Community to Campus Fair tabling event; bottom left, Jay Bumanglag, Community Partnership Coordinator at the UH Hilo Center for Community Engagement, welcomes participants during the Community Exchange part of the day’s events; at bottom right, others at the fair from the UH Hilo community are from left, Vanessa Carlson who serves as Assistant Director of Student Involvement and Leadership at Campus Center, Julie Mowrer who is the Acting Director at the Center for Community Engagement, and Chancellor Bonnie Irwin. (Courtesy photos; graphic by UH Hilo Stories)

By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.

The Center for Community Engagement and Campus Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo hosted the Fall 2026 Community to Campus Resource Fair on September 1 featuring 25 organizations from throughout the Hilo community ready to share their wisdom and support.

The gathering gave students the chance to meet with people from local human services and environmental agencies, learn about available programs and resources, and discover services that support success both on and off campus.

Plus, there were great snacks, nori chicken, and cone sushi; lunch was catered by Liko Lehua.

Before the tabling event started on the library lānai, there was a Community Exchange gathering also organized by the Center for Community Engagement and Campus Center, where the organizations could share their manaʻo (ideas and thoughts) with each other, thus strengthening their own web of support.

Both events were made part of UH Hilo’s Vulcan Week of Welcome for new students.

Julie Mowrer portrait, outdoor setting.
Julie Mowrer (File photo)

“This year, responding from feedback from participants in the spring 2026 fair, the Center for Community Engagement (also) hosted a Community Exchange (event) to offer our nonprofit organizations time to share their programs, opportunities for collaborations, and challenges with one another,” says Julie Mowrer, acting director of the Center for Community Engagement.

“The time was meaningful, and participants expressed gratitude at having this time to connect with each other and grow their networks of resources,” adds Mowrer.

Following the exchange event, which was held indoors, representatives from the local groups then went to the Mookini Library lānai to connect with UH Hilo students at a two-hour tabling event.

Crowd in lanai venue visiting info tables.
A two-hour tabling event was held on UH Hilo’s Mookini Library lānai, Sept. 1, 2026. (Courtesy photos via the Center for Community Engagement and the Campus Center/UH Hilo)

Participating organizations

Mowrer says the fair was “maxed” with organizations out for the second year in a row, with 25 organizations participating.

  • ʻĀina Hoʻōla Initiative
  • Big Island Substance Abuse Council
  • Changemakers Hawaiʻi
  • Community First Hawaiʻi
  • CU Hawaii FCU
  • Elections Division
  • The Food Basket/ DA BUX
  • Hawaiian Community Assets
  • Hawaiʻi Environmental Restoration
  • Hawaiʻi Island Adult Care
  • Hawaiʻi Island Community Health Center
  • Hui Mālama Ola Nā ʻŌiwi
  • Ke Kai Ola: The Marine Mammal Center
  • Kōkua Harvest
  • League of Women Voters of Hawaiʻi County
  • Maunakea Observatories
  • Mokupāpapa Discovery Center
  • Nā Leo TV
  • National Alliance on Mental Illness-Big Island
  • Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Hawaiʻi
  • Teach For America – Hawaiʻi
  • Vibrant Hawaiʻi
  • YWCA
  • Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island
  • Zonta Club of Hilo

Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.

Share this story