Ninth Revitalize Puna community activation event set for later this month

The ninth Revitalize Puna community activation event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Billy Kenoi District Park Gym, located at 15-3022 Kauhale St. in Pāhoa.

Residents are invited to drop in for the open house-style event.

Between 10:15 and 10:45 a.m., Hawai‘i County Disaster Recovery Officer Douglas Le and Hawai‘i County Council District 4 Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz will host a short program to discuss the status of infrastructure projects and critical updates on the progress of recovery from the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano.

Local food vendors will be on-site for lunch, and free meal vouchers will be available to participants while supplies last. The activation also includes Resilience Resource Row, which features resources and talk-story opportunities with nonprofits and government officials. Halloween-themed activities will also be available for families with keiki.

Revitalize Puna activations, a joint effort between Hawai‘i County and Council District 4, have become a space for showcasing and nurturing Puna’s remarkable resilience, spirit of collaboration and deep sense of aloha. In alignment with this, the activation theme is “Facilitating Pathways.”

In the context of recovery for communities throughout Puna and building resilience following the 2018 eruption, this means making every opportunity available for individuals and groups within the community to actively participate in and contribute to the collective recovery and future resilience efforts.

“The pathways to progress are built by every individual’s commitment and involvement,” said Kierkiewicz. “These activations are an avenue to learn about various community-driven initiatives and opportunities to get involved, as well as understand progress to restore essential infrastructure, which is key to recovery.”

To register for the ninth activation event, click here. For more information about Revitalize Puna, click here.