Aloha Spirit
News
Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i goes mobile
The nonprofit's new "grocery-style food pantry on wheels" will bring food to rural and underserved communities across the Garden Island.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 25, 2025
New oceanfront chapel opens in Waikīkī
A new destination wedding venue called Kahawai Chapel, located at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort, opened this month. Learn more about its unique offerings catered toward the visitor market, while rooted in Hawaiian culture, from chapel general manager Takeshi Miyamoto.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 23, 2025
Made in Hawaiʻi to feature Molokai Alliance for Native Artisans
Molokai resident Solana Adachi shares the heart behind this new organization and what it means to be featured at Made in Hawaiʻi Festival on Oʻahu this year. Adachi volunteers as the nonprofit’s interim president, is a full-time business owner and mom to twins.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 21, 2025
Eddie Flores Jr. on 'Franchising the American Dream'
The businessman and entrepreneur has just published his latest book, "Franchising the American Dream." He'll hold a book signing and discussion at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 21, at Barnes & Noble in Ala Moana Center.
Stephanie SalmonsJune 21, 2025
Lahaina nonprofit advocates for community
Since the 2023 wildfires, Kaibigan ng Lahaina has connected ʻohana in West Maui to recovery services including case management, workforce education and training, and mental health and wellness – all rooted in culture. ASD shares an update from the organization about its long-term plans, as well as information for this Sundayʻs Lahaina Palengke Night.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 20, 2025
Community Voices: How local nonprofits can practically support each other's mission
Have you ever thought about hiring a nonprofit for professional services? Maybe it's time to, especially if you're a nonprofit reliant on donations. Here's one way we're turning business expenses into "a built-in impact multiplier."
Ed NishiokaJune 19, 2025
What to know about The Walk for Life this Saturday
Wondering what to expect at this year’s Honolulu AIDS Walk, where fundraising dollars go, or even where to park? We have got you covered. Note, for the month of June, donations to walk organizer Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center will be matched.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 19, 2025
State ramps up plan to add more pre-K classrooms across the Islands
Kalihi Elementary Principal John Hamilton says the Ready Keiki program is a “wonderful opportunity” for Hawai'i families who wish to see their children thrive in school and life. The buildout of the classrooms so far has been under budget, with 50 more to be added by next year.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 18, 2025
Dakota Briley, son of Big Wave surfer Shawn Briley, in critical condition after recent pedestrian-vehicle collision in Hale‘iwa
A GoFundMe page identifies 20-year-old Dakota Briley as the pedestrian “pinned between two vehicles” on June 14 at Oʻahu’s North Shore. As of Tuesday, more than 1,000 donations amounting to nearly $120,000 have come in to help cover his medical expenses.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 18, 2025
Check out these 5 local charity events
Here are some happenings over the next week that will benefit organizations, causes and communities in Hawaiʻi.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 17, 2025
Navy Region Hawaiʻi showcases ‘250 acts of community service’ ahead of 250th birthday
Jordan Garrett, director of Fleet and Family Readiness, shares more about Laulima Navy, an initiative reinforcing ongoing volunteer work by Navy personnel in Isle communities.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 17, 2025
Katie Kaahanui scales Safe and Sound Waikīkī program
This initiative has reduced crime and homelessness from Ala Wai Boat Harbor to Diamond Head in less than three years. As executive coordinator, Kaahanui highlights Safe and Sound’s success and shares about her long-term goal of replicating it in other communities.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 14, 2025
Uncles and Aunties: Dr. Martina Kamaka brings Hawaiian practices to medicine
Dr. Martina Kamaka comes from the Kamaka family noted for music but medicine has been her muse since childhood. Now she is a professor in the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the University of Hawaiʻi’s John A. Burns School of Medicine. Part of her kuleana is the māla lāʻau lapaʻau (medicinal garden) of native and Polynesian-introduced plants used for healing that grow in a 3,300-square-foot oasis — which you can visit yourself on an upcoming public work day in the garden.
Cheryl Chee TsutsumiJune 13, 2025
Historic Kona church gets rededicated after several years of renovations
A virtual visit with Christ Church Episcopal in Kealakekua: We share before and after photos of the 158-year-old buildingʻs transformation and community sentiment since its completion of this restoration project.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 13, 2025
A new bowling alley, more workforce housing planned for Lānaʻi
Learn more about the initiatives at Pūlama Lāna’i, including its dual credit program for students on the island, a 10-year partnership with the University of Hawai’i Maui College.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 12, 2025
Waimea-based custom cowboy hat company returns to Oʻahu this week
The Uihā Hat Bar pop-up shop at Ka Makana Aliʻi will be back starting Thursday. Designer and owner Chaz Lindsey Kamauu created the brand to honor his family’s paniolo legacy, while also giving customers an experience that speaks to their own.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 11, 2025
Nonprofit persists in ocean conservation work despite federal funding cuts
Mālama Maunalua Executive Director Doug Harper shares with ASD about the organization’s ongoing initiatives to restore Maunalua Bay. During the interview, he received word that a grant from the federal government supporting invasive algae removal would not be awarded — and that wasn’t the first time.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 10, 2025
Terry George to lead Hawaiʻi Community Foundation come August
The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation president and CEO will succeed Micah Kāne, who is moving to Waimea to take the helm of Parker Ranch Inc. in September. HCF also promoted Michelle Kaʻuhane to chief operating officer and executive vice president.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 10, 2025
Meet the next generation of leadership at PBR Hawaiʻi
Founded by Frank Brandt, PBR Hawai’i and Associates Inc. has provided professional landscape, architectural and community planning services statewide and in the Pacific for more than 55 years. Since the beginning of the year, the company has promoted several employees from within, including Kimi Yuen, serving as president and chairperson, and its two new executive vice presidents.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 09, 2025
Relationships are the reason this Honolulu-based financial advisor loves her job
When Michelle Kreis joined Northwestern Mutual as an assistant in 2008 while living in Oregon, her passion for financial planning grew. Five years after that, she moved back home to Hawai’i and continues to help small businesses and individuals from its local office.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 06, 2025
Mom from Mānoa grows alohawear company for ʻohana
Guava Jammies turns one this month. Small business owner Steffy Simms shares her story as a self-taught designer with an eye for color and heart for Hawaiʻi-made products. She also works full-time as a teacher and has a second child on the way.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 06, 2025
Turtle Bay Foundation provides thousands in college scholarships to Oʻahu students
Malakai Vendiola, 18, an aspiring Artificial Intelligence specialist from Kahuku, was one of 86 students awarded a total of $200,000 in scholarships – Turtle Bay Foundation’s largest annual distribution to date. He shares with ASD what receiving this year’s Barbara Keen Scholarship meant to him and how it will help his future pursuits.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 05, 2025
Statewide nonprofit aims to build confidence in local students with free resources
Learn more about Helping Hands Hawaiʻi's Ready to Learn program, which for 27 years, has provided basic school supplies for K-12 students in need.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 04, 2025
Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi to expand with purchase of Maui News property
The more than six-acre campus neighbors the health organization’s medical office and subsidiary Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku, representing "an investment in the future of health care on Maui,” local leadership told ASD.
Kelsey Kukaua MedeirosJune 03, 2025