Keiki Nutrition • Food Security • Community Resilience • Hawaiʻi
Nourishing Hawaii’s Keiki — and Answering the Call When Community Needs Them Most
Kaukau 4 Keiki is a statewide network helping ensure Hawaii’s keiki have access to nutritious food during the summer months, when school meals may no longer be available.
Working through a network of community partners and in partnership with the Hawaii Child Nutrition Program, Kaukau 4 Keiki connects eligible families with nutritious meal kits designed specifically for children.
But during times of emergency, strong community networks can become something more.
They become part of Hawaii’s resilience.
Following Lala, Kaukau 4 Keiki partners in Kaʻū stepped forward to help meet an immediate community need — providing 6,500 meals for keiki as families across Hawaiʻi Island faced disruption and recovery.
For Support Local Hawaii, this is Emergency Stewardship in action.
6,500 Meals for Keiki Following Lala
When an emergency disrupts power, transportation, refrigeration, schools and household routines, something as fundamental as feeding a child can suddenly become much more difficult.
In Kaʻū, Kaukau 4 Keiki partners responded.
6,500 meals were provided for keiki as part of the community response following Lala.
Those meals represent more than food.
They represent families having one less thing to worry about.
They represent community organizations recognizing a need and using an existing network to respond.
And they demonstrate why investing in strong local food systems and community partnerships matters long before an emergency arrives.
About Kaukau 4 Keiki
Kaukau 4 Keiki provides nutritious meals to children across Hawaiʻi through summer meal-kit programs supported by a network of community partners.
The program helps address an important gap that can emerge when the school year ends: children who rely on school breakfast and lunch programs still need access to nutritious food throughout the summer.
Kaukau 4 Keiki meal boxes are designed with keiki in mind. Weekly boxes provide food supporting seven breakfasts and seven lunches, together with menus and instructions designed to make preparation safe and accessible for children.
Programs operate through participating organizations across multiple islands, allowing trusted community partners to help connect food directly with local ʻohana.
On Hawaiʻi Island, the 2026 Kaukau 4 Keiki host organization is Vibrant Hawaii.
Why It Matters
Food security is community resilience.
A community’s ability to nourish its keiki during ordinary times helps create relationships, distribution networks, knowledge and capacity that can become invaluable during extraordinary times.
The response following Lala demonstrates that connection.
An established network dedicated to feeding children was able to help meet an urgent need when families were experiencing disruption.
That is an important lesson for Hawaiʻi:
The systems we strengthen today can become the systems that carry our communities tomorrow.
Emergency Stewardship in Action
Support Local Hawaii recognizes Kaukau 4 Keiki and its participating Kaʻū partners for answering the call to serve Hawaii’s keiki following Lala.
Lala Response Impact
6,500 meals provided for keiki in Kaʻū
Through community partnership and an existing commitment to child nutrition, Kaukau 4 Keiki became part of a much larger islandwide response connecting food, supplies, financial assistance, volunteers and specialized services with communities in need.
Their contribution represents exactly what Emergency Stewardship is meant to recognize:
Using what you have.
Doing what you can.
Serving where you are needed.
And caring for Hawaiʻi together.
Supporting Hawaii’s Keiki Beyond the Emergency
Kaukau 4 Keiki’s work continues beyond disaster response.
The program serves eligible low-income keiki through participating island organizations and community-based distribution networks during the summer.
Eligibility and registration vary by participating area and program year, and families should visit Kaukau 4 Keiki directly for current enrollment information.
By supporting programs like Kaukau 4 Keiki and the organizations that make these networks possible, we strengthen more than food access.
We strengthen families.
We strengthen community connections.
And we strengthen Hawaii’s ability to care for its keiki — during summer, during emergencies, and throughout the year.
Why Support Local Hawaii Recognizes Kaukau 4 Keiki
At Support Local Hawaii, stewardship is measured through action.
Kaukau 4 Keiki represents the kind of interconnected community infrastructure Hawaiʻi needs: organizations and partners working together so resources can reach families where they live.
Following Lala, that network helped provide thousands of meals to children in Kaʻū.
We are honored to recognize Kaukau 4 Keiki as an Emergency Stewardship Diamond Listing for its contribution to Hawaiʻi Island’s response and for the continuing work of its community partners to nourish Hawaii’s keiki.
Mālama Keiki. Strengthen ʻOhana. Build Resilience.
When we nourish our keiki, we nourish Hawaii’s future.
And when established community networks step forward during an emergency, they remind us of something powerful:
Resilience is built through relationships.
Mahalo to Kaukau 4 Keiki, its Kaʻū partners, Vibrant Hawaii, and everyone who helped turn those relationships into action when Hawaiʻi Island needed them.
This is Aloha in action.
This is Emergency Stewardship.
Connect With Kaukau 4 Keiki
Learn more about Kaukau 4 Keiki, eligibility, participating islands, summer meal programs and ways to connect through their official website.
Service: Keiki Nutrition & Summer Meals
Stewardship Areas: Food Security • Keiki • ʻOhana • Community Resilience
Service Area: Hawaiʻi (All)
Hawaiʻi Island Host Organization (2026): Vibrant Hawaii
Emergency Response: 6,500 meals for keiki in Kaʻū following Lala
Support Local Hawaii Recognition: ♦ Emergency Stewardship Diamond
