Be a Villager. Now is the time to show up.

I've been sitting with this for a few days — watching our community absorb the damage from the Kona low storms, watching people lose things that can't be replaced, watching neighbors show up for neighbors in the quiet, unglamorous ways that define who we actually are as a place. And I keep coming back to one thing: there is always a way to show up. Some of us have money to give. Some have time, or a truck, or tools, or a strong back. Some of us have a kitchen and a good friend who knows how to make lasagna. The contribution doesn't have to be large. It just has to be real.

"Now is the time to be a villager. To look around at your community and ask — not what do I have that's worth giving, but what does someone near me need right now?"

A STORY FROM MY KITCHEN

My good friend Cara is the kind of person who doesn't wait to be asked. When the floods hit, she showed up at my house and turned my kitchen into an Italian haven. Seven deep dish lasagnas — seven — made from scratch and distributed through Kahuku Village Association to families who needed a hot meal more than they needed to explain why. One of those lasagnas weighed six pounds. Six pounds of love, honestly. 

 

Watching her work inspired me. I couldn't do lasagna the way Cara does lasagna — but I could do vegan oatmeal energy balls. So we rolled. And rolled. Over 300 energy balls later, donated alongside Cara's lasagnas, and something shifted in me. That's what community actually is. Not a fundraising page. Not a hashtag. People in a kitchen, making something, for someone they may never meet.

 

That's what I'm asking you to find in yourself right now. Your version of the lasagna.

Communities across O'ahu are still recovering. Many families — especially on the North Shore and in low-lying areas — are navigating power outages, limited access to clean water, major property damage, and the long and exhausting work of rebuilding a life that was interrupted without warning. The immediate surge of help matters. But so does the help that comes three weeks later, when the news cycle has moved on and the real work is still happening. If you're reading this and you've been waiting for a sign — this is it.

There Is Always A Way How You Can Show Up

No contribution is too small. Find your version:

Donate money                                Give your time                                   Lend your truck

Bring tools                                       Cook a meal                                      Roll 300 energy balls

Spread the word                             Check on a neighbor                        Watch someone's kids

Show up and ask

Where to Bring Supplies

DROP-OFF LOCATIONS · ACTIVE AS OF MARCH 2026

North Shore

• • Waialua Sugar Mill — Donation collection & distribution hub
  • Waialua High and Intermediate School — Emergency shelter & relief site

Laʻie

• • Polynesian Cultural Center — Community support & donation hub

West Oʻahu

• • Kākoʻo Oʻahu Hub — Relief coordination center
    91-1270 Kinoiki Street, Kapolei

Where to Donate Financially

Monetary donations are one of the fastest and most effective ways to support recovery efforts, allowing organizations to respond to urgent and changing needs.

• • Hawaiʻi Community Foundation — Stronger Hawaiʻi Fund
  • American Red Cross (Pacific Islands Region)
  • Lāhui Foundation
  • Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United — Flood Response Fund

If organizing a group fundraiser, consider focusing on one organization to maximize impact.

Help for Animals Displaced by the Floods

• • Hawaiian Humane Society — Kosasa Family Campus
    2700 Waialae Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96826

Check their official channels for the most current list of supply needs — these shift quickly during a recovery period, and they'll tell you exactly what's most needed right now.

Our Hawaii Home Group 'Ohana Needs Us

One of our Hawaii Home Group family members has been deeply impacted by the March 20th flooding. She is currently displaced while her home is being restored — significant damage, loss of personal belongings, and costs that insurance will not cover. I'm sharing this because she is ours. Because community isn't just a word we use in our marketing — it's the actual reason we do this work. If you feel called, please consider helping her directly.

Cara made seven lasagnas. I made 300 energy balls. You might show up with a truck, or a check, or simply by sharing this post with someone who has more capacity to give than they realize.

None of it is too small. All of it matters. Be a villager.

Mahalo for showing up for O'ahu. 🤍
With love from the Windward side

— Kirsten Connell & Jasmine Bell
Hawaii Home Group · Anchored. Candid. Intentional.