MEO board member Dawn Bicoy makes a donation to MEO during the Raise the Paddle portion of the MEO Gala in March 2023. The 2025 MEO Gala on March 22 is sold out, though items are being solicited for the auction. Photo courtesy MEO
As Maui Economic Opportunity’s 6th annual Gala approaches in March, CEO Debbie Cabebe said it’s coming at an important time.
Recently, President Donald Trump’s Administration attempted to freeze funding for federal grants and a variety of other programs, leaving local organizations such as MEO waiting with bated breath.
“It’s still really up in the air,” she said. “It’s a pause. The freeze is on hold. But we don’t know what the future will bring.”
As of Monday, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan continued to block the spending freeze and directed the administration to show how it’s complying with the original order to stop the funding freeze set in motion last week.
According to Cabebe, MEO is “very dependent” on a Community Services Block Grant, and losing that federal funding could put many programs in jeopardy.
“We refer to that as the glue that holds us together,” she said.
She said that funding supplements a lot of MEO’s programs that are not fully funded in other areas.
“It supplements county funding, it supplements state funding, and without that we would have a very difficult time. We wouldn’t be the organization that we are,” she said.
In the meantime, she said it’s “business as usual,” and the organization is looking forward to its fundraising gala slated for March 22. The gala is already sold out, and Cabebe said it’s an important event that helps supplement MEO’s funding initiatives.
“The money that we raise is really critical because that’s also another layer of protection,” she said. “So when there’s emergencies that present themselves and there’s no funding mechanism in place to address those needs, we can use the funding that we raise at the gala.”
Lee Imada, communications specialist with MEO, said the gala has been an ongoing event on Maui, taking place every year for the past several years except during the pandemic and last year following the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire.
Overall, he said it continues to attract supporters.
“It’s grown from the first one,” he said.
The event will be held at the King Kamehameha Golf Club in Waikapu. It is expected to draw more than 250 people.
This year the gala honors Grant Chun, the recently retired Hale Mahaolu executive director, former MEO board president and community leader, as well as MEO’s 60th anniversary. The nonprofit agency was chartered on March 22, 1965, and is one of more than a thousand anti-poverty Community Action Agencies across America.
The evening has a Chinese theme based on the proverb “Happiness Lies in Helping Others,” to honor Chun’s Chinese heritage. There also will be exhibits and a video marking MEO’s history and current programs, entertainment, an auction and Raise The Paddle, as well as speeches by government leaders and top sponsors.
Sponsorships are sold out. However, MEO continues to solicit items for the auction. Businesses interested in supporting MEO can contact executive assistant Lauren Amano at (808) 243-4306 or [email protected].
