The Hawaiian Acres Community Center is strategically located on the corner of Moho Road and Po‘ola Road, locally known as 8 and C respectively. Moho is a paved county emergency access road that many in the community (including commuters) use as an alternate route to access Ainaloa, Highway 130, Orchidland, and Hawaiian Paradise Park.

For years, the center hosted a weekly farmer’s market (one of the few on this island with a compliant Special Use Permit) until the demise of its catchment in 2022. Almost six months later, the community center suffered extensive fire damage and was later demolished in May of that year. We are now on track to rebuild the community center along with a certified shared-use kitchen.

moho kitchen

The proposed ADA-compliant facility will provide certified cooking space, packaging and labeling equipment, and a value-added processing area for activities such as canning, preserving, and preparing grab-n-go meals. A classroom will provide space for workshops covering topics such as general excise tax licensing, food handling and processing, nutrition, and culinary arts.

This new certified kitchen will support Puna’s diverse food producers and entrepreneurs—which include farmers, ranchers, aquaculturists, and food truck vendors—to start, sustain, or expand their local businesses through high quality training and strong community support.

All in all, our aim is to nurture a sense of community and belonging within our disparate residents, create a microsource of healthy and local foods, promote community inclusiveness, while supporting our local economy.

Moho Kitchen Committee

Linda Brush (Chair), Myrna Chiu, Joanna Haberman, Sandy Margriter (Secretary), Shannon Matson, Patti Pinto (Fiscal Sponsor), Michelle Richter, Ikaika Rodenhurst, Alex Shade (Co-Chair), Susann Tita

Guest Members: Anthony Florig, Gary Rosenberg

Project Manager: Riaan Matheus