Kaiser employees volunteer in Kaua‘i taro patch as part of medical group’s Annual Day of Service

For the ninth consecutive year, volunteers from Kaiser Permanente’s Līhu‘e Clinic partnered with Waipā Foundation today for hands-on restoration projects rooted in mālama ʻāina.

The project was hosted by Hawaiʻi Permanente Medical Group as part of its Annual Day of Service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Volunteers included physicians, providers, nurses, clinical and administrative staff, and their family members.

Activities included clearing invasive plants and roots from loʻi kalo and removing weeds along the banks of Waipā Stream – work that supports both environmental stewardship and the continuation of traditional ahupua‘a practices.

“As health care providers, we see every day how deeply health is connected to the places people live and the resources they depend on,” said Todd Kuwaye, assistant area medical director of primary care and virtual care for Kaiser Permanente Hawai‘i and a board member of Waipā Foundation. “Showing up consistently, outside of clinical settings, strengthens our connections and reinforces our responsibility to care for the whole community, not just individual patients.”

Waipā Foundation has served the Kaua‘i community for more than 30 years as a living learning center, sharing Hawaiian values through education, cultural practice, and land restoration, according to a news release from Kaiser.

“At Waipā, our work is really about creating opportunities for people to build a meaningful relationship with the ʻāina — caring for it together and understanding how it, in turn, feeds and sustains us,” said Jessica Anne Kauionalani “Kauʻi” Fu, Waipā Foundation’s Director of Operations, Communications, and Community Programs. “When volunteers and partners return year after year, often bringing their families along, it becomes more than a workday — it’s a shared experience that connects keiki to kūpuna, strengthens
community, and deepens our collective relationship with this place.”

Hawai‘i Permanente Medical Group, which oversees care delivery for Kaiser Permanente Hawai‘i, has hosted an annual Day of Service since 2010, bringing together health care professionals and community partners across the state. The Kaua‘i project was part of a coordinated, statewide effort involving more than 1,000 Kaiser Permanente Hawai‘i physicians, providers, nurses, staff, family members, and community organizations volunteering simultaneously on O‘ahu, Maui and Hawai‘i Island.