With demand for services more than doubling at the Waikiki Community Center, organizers of the 29th annual Duke Kahana­moku Challenge hope to bring in a big bounty at their annual sports fundraising event to benefit the center.

Funds raised from the popular water sports event will enable the Waikiki Community Center to provide tuition assistance for infant care and early education, canned foods for more than 1,000 families, social services that support more than 3,500 senior adults, and a place for visitors, workers and residents to participate in community affairs, socialize and learn.

"This year our senior program is up by 76 percent over last year and our case management activities are up 86 percent over last year," said Caroline Hayashi, WCC executive director. "We also supplied about 25 percent more families with canned goods and saw enrollment at our preschool, which accepts keiki from 14 months to 5 years old, increase."

Hayashi said demands on the nonprofit rose in 2013, which was the first year since 2009 that the center had broken even. While the prosperity of Waikiki businesses has helped the nonprofit expand access to its food bank and case management, which includes mental health and housing services, Hayashi said the center is still not fully meeting community needs.

"We hired an in-house case manager at the end of January and there’s always a line to see her. She could work 80 hours a week and her schedule would still be full," Hayashi said. "If we had more money, we could serve thousands more."

Demand for services in Waikiki is high because of its makeup, which includes a high senior population as well as a large share of homeless individuals and working and immigrant families, she said.

"Waikiki has more than 25 percent seniors living in the area. That’s one of highest percentages in the state," Hayashi said. "We see some that can’t afford their copay for medicine or don’t have enough food."

Hayashi said the center also runs a community preschool for children, particularly those from lower-income families or whose parents work in hospitality.

"We do have a lot of families whose parents work at hotels and other visitor industry businesses. Events like this help us provide need-based tuition assistance," she said. "There are families that work in hotels that make enough to pay, but many that don’t."

Another center priority is working to prevent homelessness, Hayashi said.

"We know that it’s a big issue for the citizens and businesses in the area," she said. "Hotels tell me it’s affecting them. People are going into their lobbies and eating their food. It’s a complicated problem, but we are partnering with Waikiki Health Center and United Self Help to try to take people who are on the borderline and help them with their housing and health needs."

Judging from the all-star lineup both in and out of the water, this year’s challenge, which takes place April 13 at the Duke Kahanamoku Beach and Lagoon in Waikiki, stands a good chance of helping the center meet Waikiki’s growing community needs.

Though the event is not the center’s primary fundraiser, Hayashi said the signature sporting event plays a big role in getting the word out about the center’s needs and services.

"This is a very important event for us and we’ve made sure that it will be memorable for the public, too," she said.

For starters, the Hokule‘a will be offshore in front of Hilton Hawaiian Village at 9 a.m. in honor of crew members Billy Richards and Kimo Lyman, who are being saluted.

"This will provide the public with a rare glimpse of the famous Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe before it embarks later this month on a four-year worldwide voyage of peace," said Jeff Apaka, WCC director of community relations.

The event kickoff also includes a double-hulled canoe procession, chant and ancient hula and song.

"You’ll see almost every balcony from the Rainbow to the Lagoon Tower filled with people watching the ceremony," said Jerry Gibson, area vice president for Hilton Hawaii, the event’s major sponsor. "We have a lot of repeat guests who time their vacations to this event."

In addition to supporting the event, Gibson said the hotel also spent seven years and $15 million restoring the Duke Kahanamoku lagoon.

After the opening ceremonies, entertainment at the main stage on Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Great Lawn will include performances by Jake Shimabukuro, Henry Kapono, Darren Benitez, Halau Na Wahine, Te Vai Ura Nui, Shining Star the Band,  the Royal Hawaiian Band and Halau Hokulani.

Folks then can participate in or watch the challenge’s numerous sporting events like the quarter-mile canoe sprint race, the stand-up paddle race or ancient Hawaiian makahiki land games like tug of war. There also will be a craft and Hawaiian artist marketplace.

Apaka said about 30 teams are expected to compete in events, with the winning stand-up paddle team earning the right to display the event’s koa wood paddle, which has been engraved with Kahanamoku’s aloha creed.

"It’s so much fun. Everybody becomes family that day," said Henry Perez, a member of Hilton’s Grand Waikikian challenge team who has participated in the event for the past four years. "There’s a lot of camaraderie that goes into this event. Whichever team wins the koa paddle has bragging rights in Waikiki for a year."

Perhaps the most important role the event plays is connecting the public with the history of Waikiki’s watermen — particularly Kahanamoku, the event’s namesake.

"This event is held at Duke’s gathering place," said Bob Hampton, chairman of Waikiki Beach Activities and event coordinator. "We walk in the footsteps of that great giant every day. He spent his youth on property learning to surf and paddle here. And he was the first to develop beach volleyball, which he did right here. This is about honoring history and making history."

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CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this story said Cathy Foy and Kamehameha Schools ensemble class would perform. They announced on April 7th, 2014 that they are no longer going to make the event.