Oct. 7, 2026

Shannon Iʻi remembers one middle schooler who barely spoke the first few times he joined Kaiāulu Initiatives’ Kilo i ka ʻĀina program. He was quiet and kept to himself, rarely engaging with the other Lahaina haumāna during their stewardship work.

It wasn’t until his third visit that something clicked. Keiki were learning to make bouquets using tī leaf, pōhinahina and other local plants when he realized he had a knack for it.

“His mom’s birthday was coming up, so it was the perfect time,” founding board member and education director Iʻi said. “He was like, ‘I know how to do this. I learned this before.’”

He finished early and began helping classmates who were struggling, giving him a chance to connect with peers who had sometimes overlooked him.

“This gave him a place and space to be able to kākoʻo, and then the kids look at him differently, like, ‘Wow, he knew how to do this,’” Iʻi said. “He was just so excited, so to see that ola — that’s what [we] bring to this space.”

Kaiāulu Initiatives is among the organizations helping drive Lahaina’s recovery from within. Its work focuses on restoring the health of the watershed while strengthening the relationship between ʻāina and community. Through programs like Kilo i ka ʻĀina, Lahaina keiki have a hand in that regeneration.

Backed in part by Ke Kula ʻo Kamehameha’s Hoʻōla Maui Fund, the program teaches haumāna about the connections between mauka forests, water and ocean while putting that ʻike into practice. Whether planting, clearing land or competing for a turn with the ʻōʻō, students put their own sweat into caring for the place they call home. For Kaiāulu Initiatives treasurer and operations director Gracie Delos Reyes, that physical labor helps keiki understand that change requires their participation.

“You have to put in the hana,” Delos Reyes said. “They’re actively making a change for the future of Lahaina.”

And for Iʻi, who is from Lahaina, passing on her own ʻike and connection to place is a vital part of the experience.

“I don’t hope because I know from being around these keiki, we have a future that they will steward,” Iʻi said. “They know their kuleana and kūlana.”
Made possible by donations from Kamehameha alumni, staff and beyond, the Hoʻōla Maui Fund supports Maui youth impacted by the August 2023 fires by strengthening the educational opportunities that serve them. From tuition assistance at Sacred Hearts School to stewardship and cultural learning through partners like Kaiāulu Initiatives, that investment is shaped and determined by the needs of the Lahaina community.

“Education happens in many ways, and some of the most meaningful learning comes from the people and places around us,” Kamehameha community strategist Nālani Kealaiki KSK’94 said. “Our kuleana is to support those opportunities that allow our keiki to learn from the ʻōiwi leaders of their own neighborhoods and understand the part they play in carrying on that legacy of service.”

As a community-led nonprofit sustained through grants and public giving, Kaiāulu Initiatives reflects the kind of “for Lahaina, by Lahaina” work the Hoʻōla Maui Fund was created to strengthen. Through Kilo i ka ʻĀina, that effort extends to the next generation, giving those ‘ōpio a role in caring for their home while teaching them that it takes everyone.

“They understand community. They understand that they can’t do anything by themselves,” Iʻi said. “They learn that it is just like a waʻa, you’re not going to move. Nothing moves without your community.”