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Kīpuka Waiʻanae Partners with ʻElepaio Social Services to Address Food Insecurity

Every Friday, nearly 300 kūpuna receive food donations at Kīpuka Waiʻanae, a site maintained by Liliʻuokalani Trust (LT) on Oʻahu’s Leeward Coast. The foods include fresh local produce, ready-to-eat meals, pantry items, poi, and sometimes a healthy sweet treat. Some kūpuna roll up in cars, trunks open, to take food for themselves and homebound friends, while others walk from a nearby beach where a community of unhoused kūpuna resides.

(Above photo: Courtesy of ʻElepaio Social Services. Bottom photo: Liliʻuokalani Trust)

LT’s Kīpuka Waiʻanae is one of five food distribution sites for the Kupuna Pantry — a program by ʻElepaio Social Services, a subsidiary of Waiʻanae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.

This partnership between LT and ʻElepaio was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago when schools closed, and food insecurity surged among students. At the time, LT volunteers and ʻElepaio workers observed hundreds of school-aged children accompanied by elderly family members — and felt the urgency to feed kūpuna. It led to the creation of the Kupuna Pantry, which provides consistent nourishment for seniors to this day.

(Above photo: By Liliʻuokalani Trust. Bottom photo: Courtesy of Elepaio Social Services.)

LT and ‘Elepaio are deeply invested in the keiki, kūpuna, and ʻohana of Waiʻanae Coast.

ʻElepaio feeds an average of 5,000 keiki and 1,200 kūpuna per week — more than 70% of recipients are Native Hawaiian. From its inception to 2024, the group has distributed more than 10 million pounds of food through its Kupuna Pantry and Keiki Pantry programs, a milestone in its mission to address food insecurity on the Waiʻanae Coast.   

LT serves Hawaiian youth ages 0-26. Its mission honors Queen Liliʻuokalani’s Deed of Trust in 1909, which stated her desire to serve “orphans and destitute children” of Hawaiian ancestry. In addition to its Kīpuka Waiaʻnae location, LT maintains more than a dozen other sites across the pae ʻāina for programs and services for youth and their families.

Teaming up with LT was “a natural fit,” says Alicia Higa, executive director of ʻElepaio Social Services. “While a lot of people look at our community as being poor, when you’re from the community, you view things from a lens of abundance, and not scarcity. We are always going to take care of one another. That’s the beauty of our community.”

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Liliʻuokalani Trust

To learn about Liliʻuokalani Trust’s programs and services, please call the Mālama Line at 808-466-8080 or visit https://onipaa.org/programs-and-services.

ʻElepaio Social Services

To learn about Kupuna Pantry and Keiki Pantry services, please call 808-679-3709 or email pantries@wcchc.com. `