“Don’t worry about giving back what you can’t….Give what you can & take what you need.”

Kōkua Exchange is our local take on Timebanking in which members participate in community development as they contribute to social, economical, and cultural equity through reciprocity.  This platform is designed to serve diverse populations and sectors (i.e. government agencies, organizations, businesses, and individuals) throughout Hawai’i and supports creating a sharing community by providing accessibility to free community assets and resources.

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What is Timebanking?

Timebanking, also known as skillsharing, is an opportunity that allows the community to ‘barter’ services indirectly with other people by locking their trade/barter hours into the ‘bank’. From there, they can then cash in on those opportunities in the future. It also acknowledges that everyone has skills to share and trade with others, and that the community is strengthened when neighbors help one another.  

The core values of TimeBanking include: Asset, Redefining Work, Reciprocity, Social Networks, and Respect.  It is being practiced around the world as an alternative economic platform that facilitates the exchange of services using time as the currency and creates opportunities for members to:

  • Strengthen the fabric of our community,
  • Serve people and give them a means to serve, and
  • Establish new relationships and meet vital needs of our community members.

Goals

Community Building
  • Build a strong healthy bank of resources as well as community relationships that will help to meet the most pressing needs of our community 
  • Maximize members’ individual capacity and efficiency by sharing strengths, trades, or talents 
  • Support members serving each other and charitable organizations through volunteer opportunities
Economic Sustainability 
  • Provide accessibility to free public services and resources
Exchange of Aloha 
  • Foster relationships of trust and reciprocity through sharing networks within the community in which time, services, knowledge and skills are exchanged with mutual respect 
  • Support compassion and community resilience by providing service to community health priorities

Member Benefits

Individuals 
  • Safe, socially-distanced, virtual volunteer opportunities to support your community and build your own professional development
  • Live Aloha – Contribute to stronger community relationships premised on equitable exchange
  • Accessibility to emergency preparedness and Covid-19 relief resources supporting a non-cash based economic exchange through free services
Organizations 
  • Support in facilitating safe volunteer engagement practices through virtual volunteer opportunities
  • Capacity building opportunities through volunteer recruitment support and accessibility to free professional services
  • Community networking opportunities with potential volunteers and organization collaborators

Sign Up

Join Kokua Exchange and offer a skill you have in exchange for a service or resource you may need at kokuaexchange.timebanks.org.  Give one hour of service to another, and receive one time credit. Use the credits in turn to receive services — or donate them to others in need.

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