A Coalition of Aloha

How a global pandemic mobilized the local community to help feed kūpuna

When hawai‘i families were ordered to stay at home in March, people were stranded. Caregivers and families separated. People of all ages were wary of everyday tasks, including grocery shopping. Honolulu’s Elderly Affairs Division was buried under an unprecedented number of requests for meal delivery and food assistance.

But what touched Executive Director Derrick Ariyoshi was the overwhelming response from organizations asking how they could help. “The pandemic unveiled the spirit of aloha in our community during the most challenging of times,” he says.

The city needed someone to spearhead the movement. AARP Hawai‘i worked closely with Ariyoshi’s team and other nonprofits including Kanu Hawai‘i, the Weinberg Foundation and Aloha United Way. “It was inspiring to see so many people stepping up to help,” says Jackie Boland, AARP Hawai‘i’s outreach director.

The Kūpuna Food Security Coalition launched March 28, just three days after the first statewide lockdown began. AARP worked with 31 organizations such as the Salvation Army, the St. Francis Healthcare System, and the Hawai‘i Foodbank to coordinate food delivery and centralize information for the public. Other initiatives included a March fundraising telethon with KHON and the Show Aloha Challenge, which delivered chef-prepared hot meals to homebound seniors.

As the group began researching who was in need, it became clear that many were not taking advantage of benefits such as SNAP or Meals on Wheels.

“In terms of long-term sustainability, our best course of action is to get people who qualify for federal dollars to apply so that the state and county resources can be targeted to people who don’t have that level of need but still do need assistance in some way,” Boland says.

Now, the mission is evolving from emergency response into an ongoing effort. The team is working on initiatives to show seniors how to apply for benefits so that even after the CARES act funding sunsets on Dec. 31, 2020, no kupuna goes hungry again.

Want to help? Volunteer to deliver meals through Lanakila Pacific, lanakilapacific.org/senior-services/ meals-on-wheels, and Hawaiʻi Meals on Wheels, hmow.org.

Donate to the Kūpuna Food Security Coalition at hiphi.org/kupuna or find ways to volunteer at kanuhawaii.org.

If you or a loved one need food and/or want to learn how to qualify for SNAP benefits, call the Aloha United Way’s 211 help line.