Our Non-Profit
The purpose of Kapi'oānuenue is to actively participate in the promotion, perpetuation, and preservation of the wisdom and knowledge of the Hawaiian culture and its traditional practices.
Our non-profit serves as the funding arm of our school, Hālau Hula Ka Pi'o O Ke Ānuenue, and we gratefully welcome your donations to help support its activities. Programs include tuition scholarships for hula students, costume stipends, support for out-of-town performances, and cultural education workshops and opportunities.
Our ability to entertain, educate, and inspire audiences is made possible through the ongoing support of our donors. As a cherished member of our community, your contribution allows us to preserve and share the richness of Hawaiian culture through hula and related traditions.
Your donation is tax-deductible and every bit makes a difference!
Donate via PayPal, or send a check to:
Kapi'oānuenue, P.O. Box 86, Kapa'au, HI 96755
Double your gifts for free by making a matching gift to the Oregon Cultural Trust and claiming your cultural tax credit. Watch the short video and learn more here.
Kapi'oānuenue is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Tax ID: 27-5088147 All gifts are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. For more info, call 808-238-6979 or email Kumu Andrea.
With Your Support
With the dedicated support of our Board of Directors, our kumu, hula haumana (students), and other volunteers, we host fundraising events and performances throughout the year. Proceeds from these events make it possible to fund the programs of Kapiʻoānuenue and we mahalo everyone in our community who supports us in our work and mission!
One of the primary ways that we grow in our cultural knowledge and expand our connections with the Hawaiian community is through participating and performing in cultural events in Hawaiʻi.
Below is a list of trips to Hawaiʻi our non-profit has helped to support.
Celebration of Life
Honoring the Life & Legacy of Kumu Raylene ~ June 2022
On June 3rd, 2022, our hālau gathered at Keokea Paka in North Kohala, Moku O Keawe, to be together as a community to honor the life and legacy of Kumu Hula Raylene Ha’alele’a Kawaiae’a… June 3, 1950 - March 9, 2012. It was also a time to honor Kumu’s mother, Eloise Yarrow, who transitioned on April 5th. What a special day it was to see all the hālau representing, offering our ho’okupu hula, each one perpetuating Kumu’s teachings or sharing in her honor, 10 years after her passing. We are so grateful to the ‘Ohana for including us in this Celebration of Life, and for the blessing of being able to partake in a gathering that will stay with us always. We are so proud of our haumāna and na wahine o Papa Palapalai, who poured their whole selves into the preparation and delivery of our offering. We love you, Kumu… E lei kau, e lei ho‘oilo i ke aloha… Love is worn like a wreath through the summers and winters. Love is everlasting.
Ka 'Aha Hula O Halauaola
June 2018
Our halau had the privilege and honor to attend the 5th and last Ka 'Aha Hula 'O Halauaola (World Conference on Hula), held in Hilo, Hawai'i. The conference brought together kumu hula, skilled practitioners, and noted scholars of Hawaiian culture and language for the purpose of elevating and expanding our cultural knowledge and understanding. Five of our hula students participated in the Opening Ceremony, a profound and sacred experience, and ten of our haumana attended the classes, huaka'i (to sacred, historic, and educational sites around Hawai'i Island), and other inspiring and educational events throughout the week. We are so grateful to have been part of this incredible gathering.
Kupuna Hula Festival & Competition
September 2016
We were honored to be one of twenty hula halau, and the only halau from Oregon participating in the Hawai'i Kupuna Festival and Competition in Keauhou, Hawai'i. The theme for the 34th annual festival was "He Lei Hiwa No Kalakaua" Celebrating King David Kalakaua. Halau were asked to choose songs for their hulas that were written for him, about him, or by him. We are so humbled and honored by the acknowledgment we received - our halau took the Overall Winner award, and first place award in the Solo Kane, Group Kane, and Mixed Kane/Wahine divisions. Ho'omaika'i to our Kupuna - you made us so proud!
>> Read the article in the West Hawai'i Today paper
E Mau Ana Ka Hula: A Tribute to King David Kalakaua
November 2014
Hula Hālau Ka Pi'o O Ke Ānuenue performed seven hula kahiko songs Kumu Andrea wrote and choreographed as part of her continuing kumu hula education with Kumu Keala Ching. The mele was written about and in honor of Kumu Raylene Ha'alelea Kawaiae'a and derived from Andrea's own inspiration and mana'o. The performance took place at E Mau Ana Ka Hula (The Hula is Perpetuated): A Tribute to King David Kalakaua on November 14. Six of our students (kane and wahine) made the journey to Hawai'i to offer our presentation and represent Oregon.
Na Mea Hawai'i Hula Kahiko
March 2013
Ka Pi'o O Ke Ānuenue was invited by our sister halau from Kohala on Hawai'i island to perform in Volcanoes National Park as a memorial dedication to Kumu Raylene on the one-year anniversary of her passing. Seventeen of our haumana made the journey to represent our halau and give thanks to our beloved Kumu Raylene for generously sharing her many gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and aloha with us. We also offered a ho'ike during which we danced Kumu Rayleneʻs hulas at Makaeo in Kona. We are so very grateful to our families and all the people who supported us in making this trip.
Puʻuhonua O Honaunau Cultural Festival
June 2011
Ka Pi'o O Ke Ānuenue was honored to join demonstrators of traditional Hawaiian practices at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park on the island of Hawai'i, June 24 - 26. We participated in the opening & closing ho'okupu, presented a hula kahiko program each of the three days, and also offered hula lessons to the park visitors. It was an incredible experience for all of us and we are forever changed by the profound aloha that was extended to us.