Earth Day, Kūpaʻa Ka Mauli

Photo by Marissa Motas

By Léo Azambuja

Hundreds of residents celebrated Molokai Earth Day 2026 at Mitchell Pauole Center last week. The event showcased dozens of conservation agencies, groups and organizations, while offering live entertainment and local food.

“This year’s theme is Kūpaʻa Ka Mauli, which could be translated as Stand Firm,” said Russell Kallstrom, program manager at The Nature Conservancy on Molokai. “Oftentimes, we know what we need to do, but we need to have the courage to do it and to stand for it.”

Between attending public, volunteers and exhibitor staff, organizers estimated about 800 people went through the free event April 18. For a raffle alone, there were 450 entries.

“In general, it’s a celebration of conservation, but for here, for us, we really want to feature Molokai conservation and the activities that are going on here,” Kallstrom said.

TNC leads the event’s organization, but it really is a group effort, with several organizations and individuals donating time and resources to plan and execute the event, according to Allyson Durkin, program coordinator for TNC on Molokai.

Molokai Earth Day, she said, is an opportunity to educate the public, in hopes they will understand how to take care of the land and water, and even become environment advocates.

Three dozen exhibitors spread throughout the grounds of Mitchell Pauole Center from 5 to 9 p.m. showed and explained their work to the public. The many topics included land conservation, native bird recovery programs, food sovereignty, energy resilience, climate mitigation and adaptation, wildfire prevention, plant quarantine, recycling, marine mammals, fisheries, plant extinction and others.

“What’s great about this event is people can go around and see some of the folks who do the work on Molokai and ask questions and say, ʻGosh, I could see myself doing that,” Kallstrom said. “It’s really about dreaming and then helping people to see the possibilities.”

Durkin said the number of agencies participating at Molokai Earth Day is an indication of the many possibilities of a career in conservation on the island. “It’s a great career field,” she said.

A raffle entry system ensured every participant visited at least nine different stands. The grand prizes included a stay at Hotel Molokai, bicycles, a dry box and Mokulele Airline vouchers.

This year’s event presented the Mālama Honua Kuleana Award to Kala’e resident Dan Bennett, “a potter, surfer, teacher, conservation advocate and a shining example of over 50 years of unwavering dedication to community service on Molokai,” emcee Brian Naeole told the crowd.

Some of the entertainment highlights included performances from Moana’s Hula Halau and from the husband-and-wife hip hop duo The Paniolo Prince and Queen Maile.

The nonprofit organization Ka Ipu Makani held a large exhibit on Kahoʻolawe in the center’s meeting room. Dozens of photographs and newspaper articles outlined how a group of nine residents stood up against the bombing of Kahoʻolawe 50 years ago, eventually forcing the U.S. Navy to stop bombing the island and allow cleanup efforts. But it came at the cost of two lives, George Helm and Kimo Mitchell, who disappeared at sea.

Outside the center, food vendors sold local favorites such as kalua pig, roast pork, luau stew, crispy pork belly, ahi katsu, pork and peas, Chinese plates and shave ice.

The Molokai Homestead Youth Council held the ʻŌpala Station, collecting trash and recyclables, as they do in many events on the island. 

“We’re grabbing all the ʻōpala, or rubbish, so the environment is cleaner,” 11-year-old Reign Purdy-Avelino said.

Ten-year-old Liloa Kaauwai wasn’t scheduled to help the Youth Council, but he was wearing rubber gloves and picking up trash, because he said it was fun, and he didn’t want people to litter. 

On the day prior to the event, Penny Martin held the Molokai Keiki Earth Day at Kulana ‘Ōiwi. The keiki event is held in coordination with Molokai Earth Day since the 1990s. 

A hundred and sixteen fourth-graders from five schools on the island participated in the Molokai Keiki Earth Day, which featured seven stations with volunteer presenters. Like the main event, the keiki event emphasizes environmental education and cultural respect. 

“It’s never too early to teach them respect and care for the Earth, and it’s never too early to remind them we don’t have any place else to live. This is it. This is our planet,” Martin said. “You’re not going to find another place like this.”

If you teach the kids how to take care of the Earth, she said, the Earth will take care of you.

The kids also got to try three papa hōlua sleds brought by Kanoe Davis. In old Hawaii, those 10-to18 foot wooden sleds were used in downhill races over lava-rock slopes covered with pili grass. But the keiki didn’t try the sleds on a hill; they simulated riding them on a flat grassy area.

“They laid on it and their friends pushed it. But they found out how to get on it and how to hold yourself,” Martin said. 

Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970, and led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency that same year, according to the event’s official website. Today, Earth Day is celebrated by a billion people in more than 190 countries, raising environmental awareness, promoting collective action for solutions to environmental problems, and working toward a sustainable future.

On Molokai, Earth Day was first celebrated in 1993 by an environmental grassroots movement led by a small group of residents, including Ed Misaki. In 1995, the group passed the reins of the Molokai event to TNC.

Earth Day is celebrated worldwide on April 22. On Molokai, a community event is usually held on the Friday prior to Earth Day.

Visit earthday.org for more information.