AARP awards $15,000 grant to kūpuna softball on Kauaʻi

A grant will repair softball fields, build storage facilities and improve restrooms at parks across the island to enhance conditions for kūpuna softball.

The Kauaʻi Senior Citizens Softball Association was awarded $15,000 from the AARP 2025 Community Challenge grants last week. Four organizations on Oʻahu, Maui, and Kauaʻi will receive a total of $70,000.

The grants are part of AARP’s $4.2 million commitment to fund 383 quick-action projects aimed at making communities more livable for people of all ages, with a focus on the needs of older adults. The funds support efforts to improve public places, transportation, housing, digital connections, and other key areas.

“AARP Hawaiʻi is proud to work with communities across the state to help make them more livable for people of all ages,” said Kealiʻi Lopez, AARP Hawaiʻi State Director. “These projects are about turning great local ideas into real improvements that make everyday life better, especially for kūpuna.”

Now in its ninth year, the Challenge has awarded 31 grants in Hawaiʻi totaling $413,836 since 2017 to nonprofit organizations and local government entities.

The last grant to Kauaʻi was awarded in 2023 to Better Block Hawaiʻi, which created a competition to solicit accessory dwelling unit designs and promote accessory dwelling units as an opportunity for affordable housing, particularly for older adults.

“We’re proud to support communities nationwide to advance solutions that make neighborhoods and towns of all sizes better places to live where everyone can thrive,” said Nancy A. LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer. “And this year, we’re particularly proud to invest in projects benefitting often overlooked rural areas.”

A full list of grantees and their projects can be found on the AARP website.