KHON2: Nānākuli students join forces with ʻElepaio to support families post-Lala
After Lala hit Hawaii, a food distribution at Nānākuli High and Intermediate brought students, families, community groups and local organizations together around a simple need: food.
ʻElepaio Social Services organized the distribution with support from community partners and more than 80 Nānākuli High School students.
The students included members of the junior varsity and varsity football teams, student council members, intermediate students and school staff. They came in after football practice on their day off to help serve their community.
Alicia Higa, executive director of ʻElepaio Social Services, said the students showed up ready to help.
“Today we are so happy to have over 80 Nanakuli high school football team. Student players, we have the student council out here,” Higa said. “The varsity intermediate, the high school staff all came in hot this morning, right after football practice to come out and help serve their community.”
The distribution served more than 500 households:
Each household received about 150 pounds of food and supplies.
The effort distributed 2,4000 meals in partnership with:
Jeramiah’s Island Cuisine
Salvation Army
Lanakila Pacific
Kupu Hawaii
Chef Hui
The larger partnership included:
Hawaiʻi Foodbank
City & County of Honolulu
Hawaii Foodservice Alliance
Lowe’s Improvement
Rep. Darius Kila
Rep. Chris Muraoka
Higa also described the broader work ʻElepaio Social Services does for kūpuna. Through funding from Elderly Affairs Division and the Department of Community Services, the organization has been serving around 1,200 kūpuna each week who face difficult choices between food, rent and medicine.
“By being able to supplement their groceries. It has meant everything to them,” Higa said. “It just really fills our hearts that we can take care of the ones who took care of us.”
The food distribution also centered local agriculture with all of the produce coming from:
MAʻO Organic Farms
Pomai Kulolo
Aloun Farms
O.K. Farms
For one day, a football field, a school and a food distribution became places where service-connected generations.
More than 80 students gave their time, more than 500 households received food and supplies and local farms helped fill the boxes headed home.