our goal: $30,000

$
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Funds Raised

Meet Kupu

Kupu, which means “to sprout” or “to grow” in Hawaiian, has a two-fold mission: to preserve the land while empowering youth. The organization provides hands-on training in conservation, sustainability and environmental education for young adults, with the goal of fostering the next generation of environmental and cultural stewards. Kupu’s work has been likened to the role of the kupukupu fern, which is one of the first plants to cultivate the land after a lava flow. The fern not only serves as a foundational species for rebuilding a healthy, native ecosystem, but it also symbolizes a place where knowledge can grow.

ALOHA is proud to support Kupu’s mission in a number of ways, from our fundraising efforts on Kupus behalf to volunteering time and mentorship. Funds for Kupu will help provide grants, training, coaching, and capacity building for ​the Hawaiʻi Youth Sustainability Challenge (HYSC).

learn about kupu

Inspiring and Enabling Our Youth to Care For Hawaiʻi’s Environment and Communities Through Action, Advocacy, and Education

A program of Kupu and Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation, the Hawaiʻi Youth Sustainability Challenge (HYSC), is an initiative to empower Hawaiʻi youth to create solutions to conservation and sustainability challenges in their schools and communities. The solutions to the challenges—either identified by the students themselves or by community partners—must be student-driven. Selected students from grades 9-12 receive funding, mentorship and training to support their innovative and grassroots environmental initiatives. ALOHA is a key partner for this program, providing funding that makes its operations possible.

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Building a Brighter Future For Hawai’i’s Youth

HYSC’s Mission

To inspire students to design solutions to conservation and sustainability challenges in our schools and communities, while developing a long-term conservation ethic, enhancing their leadership skills, and connecting with each other and members of the broader community.

overall impact

107
completed projects
188
student leaders
78,000
$ awarded
Learn About HYSC

Recent Updates

See what ALOHA and Kupu have been up to recently.

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HYSC 21-22

The Kōkua Tree

To reduce waste and food insecurity, the Kōkua Tree Team from Punahou School picks fruit trees in private backyards across Oʻahu. The underutilized resource of fresh produce is then distributed to local food pantries and food distribution sites to provide fresh produce to lower income families and reduce waste in our neighborhoods.

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HYSC 20-22

Mālamalama Pālehua

Mālamalama Pālehua focuses on reviving native forests in upland West Oʻahu that are being taken over by invasive species such as kiawe and koa haole trees. By removing invasives and replanting native species, this Kapolei High School team is helping restore the fresh water supply, native resources, and ecosystem health, while also providing the community a resource to learn and experience the up-land area of the community.

HYSC 20-21

Hānai Kaiāulu-Community Compost

This Nānākuli High and Intermediate School team developed a composting program that engages and educates the community in food systems thinking and community sustainability. It also provides solutions that empower individuals and businesses to capture organic waste and retain it as a community resource. They built bokashi composting bins to distribute to local families, conducted bokashi workshops to teach ʻohana (family) and businesses how to make bokashi, empowering them to make their own. They continue expanding their work through their non-profit Hānai Kaiāulu.

Aloha is values driven

As a Certified B Corp, we're building a business that's committed to the greater good. Employee-owned. Certified organic. Non-GMO Project Verified. We care about every element of what goes into our products. From taking care of our employees, to nourishing the communities around us and the relationships that help us grow, all the way through to the land that sustains us, ALOHA is run intentionally in every way. We're building a better business that's built for good.

Business as a Force For Good
the bar that gives back

10% donated to kupu

Donations from your Kona bar purchase will support over a dozen free programs, ranging from education and service to work training and placement, all with environmental restoration a the core.

learn more about the kona bar