Alani Apio, a member of the local volunteer group Hui Aloha, and the Impact Hub team, have been actively building relationships with our Kaka’ako neighborhood over the last few months. Every Saturday at 10am, the group of volunteers gathers on the mauka-side (mountain side) of Kaka’ako Gateway Park to clean together and share a meal. The group includes anywhere from 10-30 volunteers each week. The volunteers are a diverse group, comprised of local business-owners, houseless residents, families, and community members.
In November 2018, Ka Po’e o Kaka’ako (The People of Kaka‘ako, KPOK), a group made up of members of the Kaka‘ako houseless community, began hosting regular cleanups of the Kakaako Gateway Park. In December, IHH members and staff were able to raise about $1300 to host a holiday BBQ for the volunteers and the local houseless community. At the event, over 50 guests shared a meal together. Following that event, weekly clean-ups and potlucks were organized to maintain the park, grow relationships, and serve together.
In January 2019, the KPOK group organized a major clean-up around the Children’s Discovery Center. The center was struggling to stay open because of the houseless community that surrounded it. The KPOK group worked with those living near the Center to voluntarily move locations– an unprecedented move that the Center leadership said they had been attempting for over a decade. The clean-up around the center was a tremendous success and truly inspiring.
If you’d like to volunteer for an upcoming clean-up and potluck, email Anne to learn more or come to the mauka-side of Kaka’ako Gateway Park at 10am on Saturdays, rain or shine. We provide gloves, trash bags, water, and aloha. If you can, please bring a dish to share following the clean-up.
