The mission of the Earl’s Garage project is to inspire a sense of wonder, nurture a passion for learning, and build foundations for life in kids ages 7 and up, through hands-on, minds-on activities based in science, technology, and creativity.

Earl’s Garage earliest activities centered around simple explorations of the technical objects found in our everyday world (e.g. taking apart VCRs). We quickly discovered that kids wanted to do more than just deconstruct their world and observe it; they wanted to understand how their world works and how to construct things. The Young Inventors’ activity actually was developed to fill this need by providing kids with knowledge about electricity and mechanics. Using their new knowledge they began to make things in their world light up and move.

Based in Waimea, the Earl’s Garage project was initiated within Friends of the Future in 1999. Over the past 19 years, Friends of the Future has nurtured many diverse projects to meet our overall mission and achieve these goals. Five projects that began with Friends of the Future have received 501(c)3 status; two have transitioned to other non-profit organizations, and three have completed their short term work and no longer exist. Currently, there are ten community-based projects within Friends of the Future, including Earl’s Garage.

Our name, Earl’s Garage, was inspired by the work of Earl Bakken, the inventor of the first transistorized, implantable, heart pacemaker. Earl invented the pacemaker in A GARAGE! His inventions have helped millions of people and launched a company called Medtronic.  Earl’s mom encouraged him to tinker, and we encourage your keiki (kid) to tinker too. We hope Earl’s story of a great idea taking off in a humble place will inspire you to make your own dreams come true where ever you are.

Friends of the Future is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, incorporated in 1991. The mission of Friends of the Future is to create trust and harmony among the diverse cultures of Hawai`i through a process where all people can openly contribute their deepest values, create shared visions and continuously improve their communities. Its goals are to: 1) increase community stability and esteem by developing cultural anchors within the northern region of Hawai`i Island; 2) promote dialogue that brings together community members from diverse backgrounds, positions and interests to effectively focus community resources on community identified needs; and 3) develop community-based activities that significantly improve the health-related quality of life of the people living in north Hawai`i Island.