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Hoa 'Āina O Mākaha Newsletter
April 2026
| | Sending Aloha and Light in this Time | | |
Aloha e nā hoa, we hope this newsletter finds you in a safe and supportive space as our communities work to recover after the recent Kona Low storms. We're sending lots of aloha and light to all of our mahi'ai friends and community members across Hawai'i who were impacted by the severe weather and give our heartfelt mahalos to the community members, organizations, first responders, and businesses working hard everyday to provide disaster relief. We know that kindness, kōkua, and working together will help us get through these difficult times. Mahalo to everyone who checked in on us, we're extremely grateful that our farm did not sustain serious damage to our crops or structures and could continue our operations and programs without major disruption for the most part. We will continue to holomua, aloha 'āina, and share aloha with our community as best we can.
Linked below are resources and organizations accepting donations for their post-flood recovery efforts to help those directly affected.
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Our small kitchen on the farm has been getting lots of love serving as a sort of "test" kitchen this past school year where students from various groups could create 'onolicious recipes inspired by the fruits and vegetables growing on our farm. Ranging from elementary to high school, students have been able to use our farm to sharpen their cooking skills, expand their palates, make value-added products, and increase their confidence in the kitchen. Due to the creativity of our students, we're able to grow our recipe collection and wanted to share a vegetable and pork dumpling recipe that was crafted by our Papahana 'o Kaiona students and served at our Kūpuna U-Pick event in February.
Vegetable and Pork Dumpling Recipe
Ingredients
- 1lb ground pork
- 1/2 white onion finely diced
- Bok choi finely chopped
- 1 thumb minced ginger (to taste)
- 1/2 medium bunch green onion finely diced
- 3-4 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 egg
- Onion powder (to taste)
- Gyoza wraps
Directions
- Gather all ingredients like green onion, bok choi, ginger, ground pork, white onion, oyster sauce, egg, onion powder, and gyoza wraps.
- Finely chop the vegetables and mince the ginger.
- Add vegetables, pork, oyster sauce, and onion powder to a large bowl and mix.
- Wrap dumpling mixture in gyoza wraps following the package instructions.
- Heat oil to medium and fry for 5-8 minutes until golden brown and pork is fully cooked.
- Enjoy with your favorite sauce!
| | Keiki to Kūpuna - Cultivating Knowledge Across Generations | | |
From August to April, our core programs (Nā Keiki O Ka 'Āina, Ke Ala, U-Pick Farm-to-Basket) are in full swing as we host keiki to kūpuna on the farm every week engaging all generations in educational activities that foster connection and growth and promotes knowledge sharing. Our long-standing programs continue to evolve in meaningful ways that advance our mission through 'āina-based education, innovative partnerships, and relationship building in our community.
At Hoa ‘Āina O Mākaha, we value collaboration that allows us to amplify our work by partnering with other organizations on various projects related to food as medicine, urban forestry, and community health. We know this work cannot be done alone and we're grateful to our many partners for the continued support.
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If you're able to, we humbly invite you to make a donation towards our organization that would go directly towards supporting our mission-driven work such as our long-standing educational programs, farm operations, Hoa 'Āina O Mākaha Community Scholarship Fund, capital improvement projects, and much more.
Your gift matters and will help us to continue serving our community in meaningful ways. Together, we can make a difference!
To make a tax-deductible donation, click the link below or feel free to email us at contact@hoaainaomakaha.org.
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Hoa 'Āina O Mākaha (HAOM) was founded in 1979 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission of, "Creating peaceful communities in harmony with nature through the eyes, hands, and hearts of the children."
Our work focuses on community self-reliance, supporting 'ohana, and peacemaking in Wai'anae through innovative and engaging educational programs.
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