Alaska Airlines and Hawaii-based social and environmental impact organization, travel2change, are helping to connect guests with fun and enriching activities aimed at creating a positive benefit for communities across the Hawaiian Islands. The new partnership, launched on November 8 at travel2change.org/alaskaair, will make it easier for travelers to find and participate in authentic educational and cultural experiences during their Hawaii visit.

Since 2011, travel2change has curated activities to connect mindful travelers with communities. They offer opportunities to join the stewards of special places across Hawaii and work side-by-side to care for native ecosystems, working fishponds and farms, and to engage each destination on a deeper level. While the experiences on travel2change.org are currently based in Hawaii, activities in other destinations served by Alaska will be offered starting in 2022.

In September, Alaska supported a joint effort by travel2change, the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association and the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) to help Hawaii non-profit organizations build capacity to host volunteer experiences on travel2change.org. This effort to grow opportunities for visitors to participate positively in the community and give back to Hawaii during their stay has been a key focus of the HTA's Malama Hawaii initiative.

To celebrate the launch, Alaska employees joined volunteers from travel2change to help restore agricultural lands at Kakoo Oiwi, a community-based non-profit on the island of Oahu and one of travel2change's partner organizations. The volunteer project was also a part of Alaska's annual community service mission known as the Week of LIFT—a focused effort to give back through volunteering in several cities across Alaska's network.