Hope your holidays are going “swimmingly!” Your christmas trees are packed and ready to share with the residents of the Yukio Okutsu Veteran’s Center today.
Update: The Christmas trees are now sitting in the rooms of the residents!! Everyone was so happy to receive them, including the staff! Project Kahiau…”One Tree in the Forest” was a huge success in creating a lot of cheer during this holiday season! Flashback to how it began!
It all started about a month ago, after a class discussion on being thankful & how we are truly blessed at school because we are a team, no one is left out. A comment was made, “like each tree makes up a forest, we are one.” Then came the “NOW WHAT?” question and the birth of our Project Kahiau 2015: One Tree in the Forest.
Students decided to make edible christmas trees (instead of gingerbread houses) as we believe that everyone should be part of the forest. Students planned, prepared, solicited donations at home, and we began phase 1! Mahalo Ohana! See the video below as the students created, decorated, and decided who to share their edible tree to…to mahalo someone in the community who they were honored to be a “part of the forest” with.
Phase 2…students decorated wooden Christmas trees to brighten up the rooms of the residents of Yukio Okutsu Veteran’s Center for the holidays after hearing a story about my son Aidan’s huaka’i (excursion) there w/classmates from KSH high school, as they too are servant/learners. See the smiling FISH! (elves) hard at work to make beautiful Christmas trees that was to brighten resident rooms!
Which now brings us back to the beginning of this post of sharing Christmas cheer! The Hawaiian value of Kahiau…to give with aloha with no expectations for return was put into action!
…we all know, when you give from the heart, you DO get something back…MUCH JOY! Wishing you all Aloha Kalikimaka a Hauoli Makahiki Hou! Joy to the World!
Uncle and Aidan today 🙂
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