The Hawaiʻi Chamber of Commerce of Northern California is pleased to announce our 22nd Annual Five Star Aloha Gala on Friday, May 24th, starting at 5:30 p.m. at The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square. This is our organization’s signature event and serves as a venue for honoring individuals and organizations with our Kūlia I Ka Nuʻu (Strive for the Summit) Award for contributions in promoting the Aloha Spirit from Hawaiʻi through Northern California and beyond. All proceeds go to helping fund our scholarship program foundation and organization.

This year, we are pleased to honor Hawai‘i Community Foundation as our 2024 Kūlia I Ka Nuʻu Award recipient for its incredible community rebuilding work and response to the devastating Lahaina fires and for its many years of leadership in helping with ongoing community challenges in Hawaii. HCF’s efforts and their leadership has made it a model charitable foundation for groups and individuals in and outside of Hawaiʻi.  Past Kūlia I Ka Nuʻu Award awardees have included Mana Up, Andy Bumatai, Nainoa Thompson & The Polynesian Voyaging Society, Dave Shoji, Jan Yanehiro, The Brothers Cazimero, Chefs Sam Choy, Alan Wong, Roy Yamaguchi, and many others.

The gala will feature the presentation of the Kūlia I Ka Nuʻu Award and the HCCNC Foundation scholarship awards, live Hawaiian music, special guest appearances, plus incredible food, drinks, and of course tons of prizes and giveaways. We have awarded over $100,000 to 49 recipients over the past 19 years, which would not be possible without our incredible sponsors, supporters, and community gathering for our galas.

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The 22nd Annual Five Star Aloha Gala
Friday, May 24th, 2024 | 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square
Golden Gate Room, 32nd floor

Attire: Black-tie optional. This is a formal event.
Please make your best effort to arrive between 5:30-6:00pm.

5:30 pm
Arrival and Cocktail Reception
Live Hawaiian Music by Faith Ako & Friends

6:00 pm
Welcome by Emcee
Mele Oli
Dinner & Live Hawaiian Music

7:00 pm
President’s Welcome & Message
Announcement of the HCCNC Foundation Scholarship Awards
Presentation of the Kūlia I Ka Nuʻu Award

8:00 pm
Prize Drawings and Giveaways

8:15 pm
Ceremonial Farewell and Singing of Hawaiʻi Aloha

Arrival and Parking:
We strongly recommend using Uber/Lyft or Taxi if possible due to traffic and parking. If you do choose to drive and park, please note we do not have validation for parking. You can park at either The Westin (more info here - valet is additional) or the lower priced Union Square Garage (more info here) directly in front of the Westin.

Some Program Highlights

The vision of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation is to create an equitable and vibrant Hawai‘i in which all our Island communities thrive. With HCF’s more-than-105-year history, their trusted expertise, and the generous support of donors, they are working to address the root causes of Hawaiʻi’s most difficult challenges, including expanding access to affordable housing, conserving fresh water resources, and ensuring the healthy development of Hawaiʻi’s young children. HCF works in communities across Hawaiʻi, with offices and staff located statewide. For more information about HCF, please visit hawaiicommunityfoundation.org and follow their social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

The Maui Strong Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation is providing financial resources to support the immediate and long-term recovery needs for the people and places affected by the Maui wildfires. HCF works in close collaboration with federal, state and county agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community members to get an understanding of the evolving priorities on the ground and deploys grants to address unmet needs. To ensure transparency, all grantees and award amounts from the Maui Strong Fund are updated regularly and can be found here. The Maui Strong Fund is designed for the long haul, using a four-phase approach that includes recovery, stabilization, risk reduction, and resiliency building. Learn more about their four-phase approach here.

We will feature multiple award winning restaurants and local San Francisco Bay Area favorites. Past events have included The Slanted Door, La Mar, Perle, Aloha Fresh & Beard Papas Cupertino. We’ll also have the classic Westin St. Francis food stations which will include the savory Whole Roaster Top Round of Beef with Roasted Garlic Aioli, complementing items, and their Executive Pastry Chef’s assorted desserts spread.

We will provide complimentary wine and beer at the event. In addition to the complimentary beverages, there will be a cash bar available for additional drinks and beverages. Spots are currently available for F&B sponsors. If interested in your restaurant or brand joining us, please reach out to us at gala@hccnc.org.

Past Food and Beverage Sponsors

Southwest Airlines is our official 2024 Five Star Sponsor. We welcome additional sponsors at this time. If you are interested in being a sponsor, please reach out to us at gala@hccnc.org.

2024 Five Star Sponsor

Past No E Ka Oi Sponsors

Past Aloha Sponsors & Table Sponsors

Past Mahalo Sponsors

We will be presenting our HCCNC Foundation 2024 Kūlia I Ka Nuʻu Scholarship awards per our annual program tradition. We have awarded over $100,000 to 49 recipients over the past 19 years. This scholarship program would not be possible without the support for the gala and from our sponsors, supporters, and community.

We will feature a virtual auction at this year’s gala. Items will include tickets to popular sporting events, airline tickets and miles, hotel stays across the world, restaurant gift certificates, and so much more. The auction will be available May 20, 2024 through May 27, 2024.

We welcome supporters and sponsors via donations to the virtual auction. If you are interested in supporting our gala, scholarship program and organization with a donation please send us a note at gala@hccnc.org, we’d really appreciate it!

Past Supporters

Every year at our Aloha Gala we have a set of prizes and giveaways for attendees. These have included candies from world renowned Big Island Candies to assortments of wine to multiple pairs of roundtrip Southwest Airlines domestic and international flights. Each attendee is eligible for the prize drawings which we’ll announce in the coming months.

If interested in donating any giveaways to attendees, prizes during the event, etc, please send us a note at gala@hccnc.org, we’d really appreciate it!

Due to the popularity of this event, we have limited table sales and individual tickets available. Here are the table purchase and cash donation options:

• Aloha Gala - No Ka Oi Sponsorship $3,000 (includes large table seating in front row) 

• Aloha Sponsor $1,000 - $2,500 cash sponsor

• Aloha Gala: Large table (10 seats) $2,500

• Aloha Gala: Small table (4 seats) $1,000

• Individual ticket - $250 each

If you are interested in joining or supporting us through any of the options above, please respond immediately to gala@hccnc.org and let us know what option you would prefer. We will follow up with you to secure your option and payment.