After Hurricane Lala, Hana Laulima Lāhui O Ka‘ū is responding to the needs of the community while already thinking about what comes next.

“We’re just being the eyes and ears, responding to every call. We’re just receiving whatever help comes upon us and sharing it straight to community,” said Terry Shibuya, a co-founder of Hana Laulima and owner of Masazo’s Pig Farm.

The hurricane damaged approximately 690 homes and structures across the pae ‘āina, with Ka‘ū among the hardest-hit areas. In the weeks that followed, Terry and her husband, Dane, shifted from their usual educational programming to establishing distribution hubs to get food, supplies and cleaning materials to their neighbors, while also delivering meals directly to kūpuna who could not make it to the sites.

“We gathered our ‘ohana and we link up,” Terry said. “‘You cover this area. You cover that area’ … so that everybody has [help].”

The response has taken shape around whatever is needed each day and whoever is ready to lend a hand. Volunteers have stepped in to distribute food. Barbers have traveled from Hilo to provide free haircuts. Donated toys have brought some joy to keiki, while supplies from other islands have helped replenish what was running low. Now, the Shibuyas are thinking about what families will need to get back on their feet long-term, as they intend to help families cover everyday expenses such as food, gas and bills. The organization is also looking at providing generators for kūpuna who may be especially vulnerable during the next power outage.

That commitment to showing up for the community has long been part of Hana Laulima’s work. Through its cultural education programs, supported by KS Kaiāulu, the organization brings keiki to the farm to learn ‘āina-based practices, including how to make an imu. For Dane, that work is rooted in keeping the next generation connected to the place they call home.

“If you don’t live the culture, we gonna lose it,” Dane said. “So gotta do it.”

That connection between ‘āina, culture and community also shapes Hana Laulima’s vision for a Hawaiian cultural center in Ka‘ū. The organization is working toward acquiring a 10-acre site where the center could eventually provide space for education, gathering and community support.

For now, the work continues wherever the community needs it. Hana Laulima is planning a Christmas relief event for ‘ohana, with donated gifts and activities intended to bring some respite after a difficult year. That is how the Shibuyas describe Ka‘ū: a place that bends under pressure but continues to stand strong.

“The people of Ka‘ū are hardcore and the love for our ‘āina is unreal,” Dane said. “We’re gonna recover through it all. We’re gonna recover, then rebuild and stand back up like we normally do.”

And for the Shibuyas, that love means staying with their community for as long as it takes.

“We gonna be the last ones [to] shut the doors on our people,” Dane said.

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