My wife and my mom were both teachers so I know all about them putting their own time and money into classrooms because the system doesn’t give them enough to work with, and that’s true in plenty of good schools, not just underfunded ones.
At the same time, most of what we do at The Wealth Elevator is help people build real financial skills that traditional education never taught them: how money actually works, how to invest, how to think about risk. Conventional schooling is built to satisfy academic standards, not to prepare people for the real world… Well, if you’re trying to create as many people to fit in the system as worker bees, then I guess they have succeeded. Back in 2017, I began using company funds to support causes aligned with our values. We’re now carrying that effort forward with a clearer focus on practical classroom education.
How the Program Works
We give through DonorsChoose, a platform where teachers post specific, fundable classroom projects: a set of laptops, a robotics kit, books for a reading corner. We picked it because every dollar maps to something concrete a teacher actually asked for, rather than an abstract donation into a large organization.
What we fund
Projects that teach practical, real-world skills: financial literacy, entrepreneurship, career readiness, technology, and hands-on problem-solving, the things we think school should teach more of. I’ll be honest, it’ll be a little bit subjective in this. Projects that speak to me and our community
Where the money comes from
FI for the Worthy LLC, periodically uses company funds to support classroom projects aligned with our mission. The amount and timing of our giving are determined by the company based on available resources and the projects we identify. These contributions are made directly by FI for the Worthy LLC. Customers are not making a charitable donation through their purchase, and no portion of a customer’s payment should be treated as tax-deductible.
Live events, typically run close to break-even and sometimes operate at a loss because we prioritize the participant experience. Thus, live events are excluded from charitable donation eligibility.
Where the money goes
Mostly Hawaii. A lot of the capital that runs through this business flows to projects on the mainland, and we want at least this piece of it to come home. That said, we’ll also fund strong projects outside Hawaii. This isn’t a Hawaii-only program.
Who picks the projects
I review and choose the projects myself. If you come across a DonorsChoose project you think we should fund, send it to me and I’ll take a look. Suggesting a project doesn’t guarantee funding, but I read every one.
What you’ll see afterward
When a project is funded, we’ll show what it actually paid for: the teacher, the school, what was purchased, and why we picked it, so if you’re a coaching client, you can see where that piece of your purchase went.
Past Projects
2026 – We’re now carrying that same DonorsChoose approach forward with clearer rules for where the money comes from and where it goes. Our first round of new projects is in progress. Check back here soon, and every project we fund from here on will be posted with the school, the teacher, and what it paid for.
2018 — $1,075 – Choose Love (initiative to end Classroom Bullying). See DonorsChoose page
Mrs. Kawaoka’s class at Waimalu Elementary, Aiea, HI — fully funded through DonorsChoose in 2018.
Choose Love for Our Students, PreK–2 at Waimalu Elementary, built a “Choose Love Corner”: a reading nook and rug where kids share journals and practice four values — courage, gratitude, forgiveness, and compassion. 17 donors fully funded it, reaching 20 students, half from low-income households.
Thank you again for the wonderful donations to my classroom and to my students. They absolutely love the items especially the buzzers and clipboards as seen in the pictures. They are definitely always excited to use them in every subject. I tried to upload a video of the kids using the buzzers because you can just see the excitement in their faces! In the video, we are using the buzzers for OG, which is a phonics based program that encourages phonemic awareness and language building skills. Each table or team has a set of buzzer sounds assigned to that table. First table to “buzz” in then gets to compete with one another to buzz in and share the answer to the whole class. It’s a great team building exercise too because often times when competing they get very upset when their team doesn’t “play” properly to win so we have included in these activities the opportunity to encourage one another even when they have “lost” or another team won.
When students first started seeing the items coming out of the boxes they were so excited. Many of these students don’t have the luxury of having electronic toys or even all the same resources as other kids. These generous donations allowed some of my students the opportunity to just have a clipboard in the classroom to work on the carpet. We are so blessed and lucky to have this completed project.
Another part of the project that we will be working on is continuing to build our choose love corner. We have most of the little components but are still waiting on a few key furniture pieces to put everything together. Once those pieces have arrived, we are going to work on having small group instruction with our choose love curriculum and the materials. Thank you again for blessing our class, students and community with these amazing gifts. It has truly touched the lives of so many students. I hope it can encourage them to keep learning and to know that there are people that support our public school education system. We are ever so blessed with your generosity and kindness.
2017 – $1,239 — Relay For Life, an American Cancer Society fundraising walk.
Suggest a Project
Know a teacher with a DonorsChoose project worth funding? Email me the link.
Charitable Giving Disclosure
FI for the Worthy LLC’s charitable giving is voluntary and made from general company funds at the company’s discretion. Contributions are not conditioned upon, earmarked from, or attributable to any individual purchase, coaching enrollment, or event registration. Customers do not make charitable contributions through FI for the Worthy LLC, and payments for our products, services, or events are not tax-deductible charitable donations.
FI for the Worthy LLC independently selects the projects it supports. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, administered by, or endorsed by DonorsChoose, any featured school, or any featured teacher unless expressly stated otherwise. Project suggestions are welcomed but do not guarantee consideration, selection, or funding.
