![\"\"](\"https:\/\/civilbeat-aws-dotorg.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/2015\/06\/6.-Queens-Rise-09.03.14-640x424.jpeg\")
Sure enough, in 2011, with the then-owners of Ka Iwi Mauka\u2019s 182 acres in bankruptcy court, new owners and plans for development seemed imminent.<\/p>\n
Well, I say that in hindsight, but back then \u2014 like so many young people \u2014 I honestly couldn\u2019t have cared less about following the news, let alone local news.<\/p>\n
Despite growing up in Maunalua (Hawaii Kai) for the first 18 years of my life, I\u2019ve long taken that scenic shoreline for granted. Sure, I\u2019d been to its beaches, taken some shaky photos of Rabbit Island as it came into view on that winding road, but those drives were always about the destination, not the ride.<\/p>\n
That changed in 2015. Livable Hawaii Kai Hui \u2014 a community-oriented nonprofit focused on cultural and environmental conservation \u2014 had risen to the challenge of purchasing Ka Iwi Mauka to protect it in perpetuity.<\/p>\n
Discussions with the city and state meant that $3.5 million had already been put forward, but a $500,000 grassroots fundraising goal necessitated the invaluable coalitions we built across zip codes, from our friends at The Trust for Public Land to our friends at Na Kua Kendrick Chang, who had just graduated from Kaiser High School, reached out to me in his role as youth coordinator for the endeavor. I was so moved by his call that I immediately proceeded to draft a message asking dozens of my friends and former classmates to help spread the word about the fundraiser.<\/p>\n Sooner than expected, I started receiving all sorts of positive replies. From people I spoke with every day to some I hadn\u2019t spoken with in years, almost everybody I messaged told me they\u2019d help out.<\/p>\n I was mainly looking for them to do something as simple as tell their parents, but to my surprise, their support came in the form of social media networking, face-to-face interactions, their own donations \u2014 I even learned that a friend I first met in middle school had a grandma working to save Ka Iwi well before either of us were born.<\/p>\n Fast forward to the fundraiser at Olomana, and we find community members raising over $20,000 in one night, helping the campaign hit its fundraising target with just over a week left before the parcels went back up for sale.<\/p>\n I spent hours after the big announcement, singing “Hawaii Aloha,” counting money, and helping clean up the place. \u00a0I was on a leave of absence from my university at the time, figuring out my life, but at that moment I couldn’t believe just how lucky I was to be a part of this community project. \u00a0If it weren’t for Kendrick bringing me on board, I wouldn’t be working with the Hui today as a youth adviser.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t think much of it in 2015, but after waiting for the conservation easement over the entirety of an election year, I was fascinated by the diversity of people I realized had come together.<\/p>\n Liberals, moderates, conservatives, environmentalists, Hawaiian rights advocates, business owners, lawyers, students, activists, beach bums, and so many more worked side-by-side, all with the common goal of preserving the cherished Ka Iwi Mauka Lands for generations to come.<\/p>\n That\u2019s my favorite part of continuing to work with Livable Hawaii Kai Hui. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Hui avoids political campaign interventions for or against elected officials, and that sure comes in handy when trying to talk about nonpartisan issues with hyper-partisan people.<\/p>\n This sense of cooperation makes me excited for the future. I\u2019ve taken part in service projects around the island for years, but my community volunteerism specifically around Maunalua only began with Ka Iwi Mauka. It certainly isn\u2019t ending there, though, and I hope the same goes for you reading this.<\/p>\n With Ka Iwi proudly preserved, the Hui and its partners can refocus some energy on stewarding such sites around Maunalua as Pahua heiau, Aloha ‘\u0100ina ‘o Kamilo Nui nursery, H\u0101wea heiau complex and Keaw\u0101wa wetland.<\/p>\n The Hui also aims to support other community groups and nonprofits, strengthening a network of dedicated cultural and environmental conservationists, and working with them to increase public engagement with our mutual projects.<\/p>\n On the Hui’s Instagram, you’ll find several reposts from and appreciation messages dedicated to a community volunteer network you’ve likely heard of before: 808 Cleanups.<\/p>\n Though 808 Cleanups organizes and tracks volunteer efforts across the state, the work we are most proud of teaming up with them for are our weekly rounds to check for dangerous leftovers of pallet bonfires on Ka Iwi’s beaches.<\/p>\n A night of friends and fun by the fireside may seem like a good idea, but certainly not for those \u2014 including those very fire starters \u2014 who end up stepping on the literal\u00a0pounds\u00a0of nails left behind from those wooden pallets shaped for forklifts in the shipping and transportation industry.<\/p>\n Just days before the mayor’s announcement of Ka Iwi Mauka’s new conservation status,\u00a0the Hui joined with researchers from the University of Hawaii Manoa, DLNR, Iolani School, 808 Cleanups, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program to bless new efforts to save the Hawaiian yellow-faced bee, which has healthy populations along Ka Iwi.<\/p>\n We hope this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our restoration and maintenance of the coast. Its preservation may finally be funded, but the health of Ka Iwi will depend on the continued k\u014dkua of all its patrons.<\/p>\n\u0101ina<\/code>o Waim\u0101nalo, and so many more in between.<\/p>\n