Honoring Community Through Food: HA Service Project in Kohala

This past weekend, our HA (Hoʻo Kahua ʻAi) Service Project came together to prepare and distribute 500 free meals to Kohala kūpuna and community members in need. In partnership with St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, this effort was a community collaboration, ensuring that local families received nourishing, home-cooked meals.

A Meal Grown with Purpose

What made this project truly special was the hands-on involvement of our students, who not only helped prepare the meals but also contributed locally grown ingredients from our community farm. The pork used in the dinners was raised and processed by our students, while fresh vegetables were harvested from the land they’ve worked to cultivate. Additionally, OAR Family gardens provided a variety of fresh vegetables, reinforcing the power of community-driven agriculture in supporting local food security.

This project wasn’t just about providing meals—it was about reinforcing the importance of self-sufficiency, sustainable agriculture, and giving back to the community.

“To share a meal with families having a hard time during this pandemic, and also just to share and bring joy to the community. To bring the community together also by working with other organizations and churches. Our church does a lot of outreach so people are very appreciative. We served 3,173 meals from August – December. We have always had a community meal which use to be once a month, potluck, and thrift shop open on a Saturday. It was to have fellowship to bring people together. We as a church has grown to help with building this community meal. What’s funny is we have people waving at the side of our entrance, and people are drawn to just drive in. They don’t know why they did, but than they find out they get a meal for the family. We want everyone to know they don’t have to be homeless or unemployed to be welcome at our meal. That smile and a wave makes people happy.”

Kathy Matsuda of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, Kapaau, HI.

Mahalo to everyone who made this possible, and Mele Kalikimaka!