Awesome little farmers market Many local delights, and arts,…read moreplants, and foods. It's got a great little local vibe, our family's favorite was the wrapped mystery books a little bit of literature roulette

We went here last minute and I was so happy we did. We got coffee and so much fruit. There was a…read morelittle boy selling banana bread for a dollar and we got two. I wish I would've bought them all. They were absolutely amazing. We also got this ube pastry which was good as welll

I adopted a male dog that was the best ever. He was 2 and I had him for 14 years. His name was…read moreCarson.

Let's just say 11 years ago we adopted 2 dogs from here, and we provided a great home and love in…read moreoahu. We just moved to hilo on Jan 4th and before we came here I put in multiple applications for 2 different puppies, on Friday I called this place to confirm that they still had puppies because we wanted to adopt one or two. Not ONCE did the lady on the phone advise that we weren't allowed to purchase 2 puppies at a time, nor did she mentioned before even brining a pet home the application has to be confirmed on their site (which I completed a couple weeks before we moved), plus it will take like 3 days before even bringing the puppy home. That aside, we walked in with our 2 boys excited to bring a puppy home, and when we went to the counter the lady out right said we won't be able to take a puppy today due the one million reasons that she mentioned which made no sense and made it seem like I had no Idea what liter syndrome meant. My sons were bent outta shape because of those words. FYI, next time, talk to me and not to everyone else in the room behind me. We purchased dogs from humane society countless years and to have to be turned down because we are not a right fit family for puppies is like a slap in the face especially when we bought our 2 puppies from this place at the same time. I feel this decision was more based on a personal choice on my response to the first lady I spoke to, instead of hearing what questions I had she kept telling me that we couldn't have two puppies due to litter syndrome. We understand littermate syndrome, but when you take correcrive actions and extensive training with your dogs, that won't happen as we do our own. Do we all really know their personalities? No, but as the owners, it's our due diligence to teach them right from wrong. Studies are saying "littermate syndrome" is not even a real thing. We label problems with two young dogs as "having Littermate Syndrome," because we absolve ourselves from the responsibility to fix problems that humans created and can't resolve. See, the problem isn't the dogs. The problem is peoples ability to address their individual needs. It's easier to label a syndrome than to just give more TLC and understand stand them. On that note, you sent me this email the day after saying I'm not a fit? So much for waiting 3 days and calling to see if we are a fit when we meet with the counselor. That is ok! I went to Rainbow friends animal sanctuary and we rehomed a dog, and someone just so happily allowed us to rehome their 2 puppies that were left at their front door This place is such a disappointment. Going forward, I will not recommend this place to anyone anymore. Even though my 2 other dogs came from here, and we love them dearly. This place will be the last on my list now, not #1 it took less then 24hrs for them to tell my family we are not a fit before even giving us the chance. The slogan should not be providing them a good home. The lady after us asked for 2 kittens, and you were gladly open to having her adopt them after she just mentioned her current cats' lack of health for many reasons that did not match up! Go figure! The care you give for cats is not the same as dogs? Why is that? Should we not give the animals all the same care, love, and treatment? Seems like it's a preference here and bad choices! I'm done venting, but if you are looking for dogs and puppies there are many other adoption places to go that will give you better service then this place its sad that I recommended this place to a bunch of families and they actually said they were turned down too and got their dogs else where. Please feel free to share your family requirements and what makes the best families for these animals? All these people are opening their homes, and you're denying it, but crying that you have no shelter space.......this could be one of the biggest reasons. Look where you lack the experience, which is assumptions and judgment!

Went there with my mom, and bought make up for $1.99! I like their new location! There's so much…read morestuff, I could spend a day there!

I've been cleaning out my storage . Went to donate a lot of good home goods , clothes & other…read morevariety of stuffs - had 9 MED TO LARGE boxes packed in my little car some wasn't that light either . I Get to the donation drop off area and there's a clerk there calmly sorting thru a bin of things that I'm assuming was recently donated too , and I ask her , where do I place my donations I have all these boxes ( as she can clearly see in my car w/ the doors open) she just tells me " just place them there on my table - do you need a receipt ?" No asking or even making an effort to help me unload or anything ! I found that to be quite rude ! I mean if people is DONATING FOR FREE and the establishment is actually going to place a price tag on these FREE items, the least Goodwill employees who recieves the donated items could do , is offer or actually help the donor unload it ! It should be a common courtesy on their part. And I've seen their prices in their store , it's actually not that much of a bargain , most items are overly priced for getting it free & slightly used ! I could shop at Ross dress for less and get most of their stuffs NEW for the same or lesser price . Or even at a garage sale . They also don't have a pick up for bulk donations and or for seniors . That's a downer ! I think Goodwill could do better to help our community , mostly for those who are in the lower income with their pricing - on free donated items ( especially on clothing ) which they get ALOT of ! They should also consider doing pick ups for donated mdse . For seniors , even if it's only within the hilo area or a 20 - 30 mile radius. This is my view I got of Goodwill @ their new location on MAKAALA St . Anyone knows of other establishments that takes donated items ?

Tina & Nhung were delightful. They both spoiled me with a pedicure and fingernail manicure. I left…read morefeeling so special

We did a 5 hour tour with Mike that was FANTASTIC. Our weather wasn't great, but he found ways to…read moreget us out of the rain, share interesting facts and sites around the park, and he really went the extra mile to give us a great experience. Learned a lot, hiked a lot, and went home with huge smiles!

NELHA (National Energy Lab of Hawaii Authority) is a non-profit that overseas a variety of self…read moresustaining experiments and viable start-up businesses involved in environmentally conscious ventures such as energy production and sustainable food growth. We were the only ones taking the tour today. Our guide Candee gave us an overview lecture at the Visitor Center which includes a couple of videos and a demonstration of how even body temperature boils the liquid ammonia that is used to create the steam that runs the turbines in the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion project, which, before I came to NELHA, was the only venture I knew of in this Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology (HOST) Park. As it turns out there is a school here, a monk seal rehab facility, and many businesses that are involved with sustainable seafood growth and other environmentally conscious ventures, including of course, the OTEC plant. Over a three hour period we also visited the 6th - 12th grade charter school (West Hawai'i Explorations Academy (WHEA)) that provides children and teen agers with experimental research in marine biology, and other meaningful hands-on instruction including robotics. It's nice to see the yout's of the future learning about how to preserve our environment. At the school we were able to hold creatures from tide pools such as large starfish and sea cucumbers, and witness larger fish such as a very large grouper jump out and snap up a piece of squid that was held over the water. We also saw the monk (so named because they prefer to stay solitary) seal conservation project, where sick or dying monk seals are brought in for medical treatment and rehab, and then released back into the wild. There is apparently ongoing friction between Hawaiian fisherman and the monk seals, that the fisherman incorrectly believe are competing for the same fish they are trying to gather. As we were told, the monk fish seek fish at much deeper sea levels than the fishermen and do not interfere with their typical fishing. Last stop was the OTEC plant, which is currently a closed system where the thermodynamic difference between cold and warm sea water is used to boil ammonia and run turbines, producing 100 KW at this one station. The tubes do not suck seawater out but rather allow it to enter and rise by its natural flow, which minimizes its impact on the environment (marine life is not sucked in, although some overly curious sea creatures do ride it all the way up and end up collected and studied). Because the tubes to direct the water are currently made partly out of titanium, and because a tube needed to produce enough electricity for example to power the state of Hawaii would need to be about the thickness of a small building and use up about 6% of the entire world's titanium, the OTEC system is not yet cost effective. However, NELHA is still trying to develop ever most efficient means to harness the OTEC concept. Over all an enjoyable and educational overview tour of some of Hawaii's conservation efforts. The cost of the tour goes towards supporting the various projects and the charter school.

If you are a science person or not this tour is great to do and support local. Took my parents on…read morethe Friday Grand tour, well worth the visit. Candee is very informative of the property and mission of the program. Unfortunately we weren't able to go to kampachi fish farm but we visited the octopus farm instead. Then ended with Big Island Abalone. Also saw green grapes growing at the visitors center yup grapes growing in kona, hawaii.

Many things I find issues with the food bank here in Hilo. Yes I went there for food cause cost of…read morefood is high and I don't have EBT cause I make a few dollars over. One issue is I recently went right after the food bank had its food drive. I assumed I'd have a little bit of canned goods to have in my cabinet to hold me and my family out. They gave me a bunch of perishables and 1 canned good. The things they put in the bag makes no sense. They gave me walnuts, raisins, a bag of tomatoes,1 tray of chicken, a tub of yogurt and 1 can of peas. I want to say I'm not complaining I am very grateful but to cook with random items I would never normally get it's very hard to make a meal. Another thing I noticed is you sign in and you put your household size and it doesn't matter how big or small your household is they give you premade paper bags of items. They do not check the clipboard or any type of info to verify anything. My friend and I rode in the same car due to his car not working properly and they saw we came out the same car. She assumed we were from the same household(I get it and I would've questioned as well) but it's her approach that was very rude and she profiled us as a 1 household when clearly our information is different and I cut her off and told her we're not from the same household. She decided to say well I'm gonna tell you guys anyway and proceeded to tell us that we can only take turns every month. (Again does not look at the sign in clipboard or check any info) talk about feeling uncomfortable and profiled when I need help for food. As I'm feeling down talked, in any other case I'd normally talk back but the embarrassment for myself having to need help for food for my family took over. This woman spoke to us as if the food came out of her pocket, these are donations from other families who could be struggling as well but generous to donate and some local companies. It's just frustrating when the ones who need help get the sh*t end and the ones who doesn't takes advantage.

They grumble to people who come to get food! Fat lady at front window gave attitude when she…read moreassumed that me and my friend was from the same household.. it clearly shows on our IDs that we have different home addresses! Stop profiling people who come for help and do your job! Totally disrespectful!! Lady kinda looks like this

Super informative Heritage Center honoring the history of The Paniolo in Hawaii. By donation only…read more Support the gift shop and you can also add a tip which goes towards donations.

While in Waimea on the Big Island on Saturday, I love to make a stop at the Hawaii's Cowboy Museum…read more It also has a farmers market open on Saturdays from 7:30 am to 1:00 pm. Tons of history here that features the Paniolo Hall of fame and a display of the great Ikua Purdy. I learned a bit, never knowing that there were different saddle designs for each island. Lots of free parking outside in an unpaved lot. Buy a souvenir and make a donation if you can.