Proceeds benefit ‘AINA In Schools
Purchase locally grown produce & products at the new WHOLE FOODS MARKET, Kahala Mall on WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17!
5% of net sales will benefit Kokua Hawai’i Foundation’s ‘AINA In Schools Program.
‘AINA In Schools is a farm-to-school program dedicated to connecting children to their land, waters and food in order to grow a healthier future for Hawai’i. To find out more about this program click here. If you’d like to become an ‘AINA IS Volunteer, contact .
Welcome, JUNK! Invitation to Beach Cleanup with JUNK crew in Kahuku
Kokua and the Plastic Free Hale’iwa Coalition welcome JUNK and its crew as they educate our community about plastics in our oceans.
Three months and 2,300 miles after departing from Long Beach, California, the JUNK raft and its two eco-mariners Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal arrived in Honolulu at the end of August. Made from 15,000 plastic bottles and a Cessna 310, JUNK is a project of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which is dedicated to the protection of the marine environment. Your family can visit the JUNK raft NOW at the Waikiki Aquarium through Sunday, September 7. Check it out and find updates about JUNK-related events at www.junkraft.blogspot.com
The JUNK crew and trans-Pacific rower Roz Savage invite you to participate in a beach cleanup of marine debris from the Kahuku coastline on Thursday, September 4 from 2:45pm - 5:15pm. To register for the beach clean-up, please phone 393-2168 by Tuesday, September 2. If organizing a group to come, please email your list of names to: and include name of the group along with each person’s first name, last name and phone number. Please note whether any children are under 18. Directions and parking information will be given to registered participants.
Building the Nature Gap during Take a Child Outside Week!
“Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder,” authored by Richard Louv, has stimulated an international conversation about the future relationship between children and nature, and has helped spawn a grassroots movement to reconnect children and nature.
In 2006, under Louv’s leadership, the Children & Nature Network (C&NN) launched a nationwide campaign to encourage and support the people and organizations working to reconnect children with nature. The network provides a critical link between researchers and individuals, educators and organizations dedicated to children’s health and well-being. Going outside:
* connects children to the natural world
* helps kids focus in school
* reduces chances of obesity
So take a child outside! Take a Child Outside Week is September 24—September 30, 2008. Visit TakeChildOutside.org.
Check out a recent story Kokua put together. The list of simple activities is featured in the 2nd Annual Hawai’i Parent Guide, which was distributed in the 8.27.08 Honolulu Advertiser and at public libraries. The guide is also online; check out Kokua’s page here.
Volunteers Needed: ‘AINA In Schools Garden Building
Waikiki Elementary, 9/6
Ala Wai Elementary, 9/13
Email to RSVP.
Come visit the Kokua/’AINA IS booth at these community fairs. Both are FREE!
Discover Recycling Fair
Neal Blaisdell Center Arena
Thurs., 9/25 & Fri., 9/26 - 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Sat., 9/27 - 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
HMSA Island Scene Festival 2008
Saturday, 9/27 - 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Kaka’ako Gateway Park
IslandScene.com
Have some fun, make new friends while supporting our partner organizations. Get your tickets today!
4TH Annual MA’O ma TOWN, MA’O Organic Farms Fundraising Event
Saturday, 9/20, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Downtown @ The Hawai’i State Art Museum
Sierra Club Hawai’i Chapter 40th Anniversary Gala
Saturday, 9/27 at 5:30 – 9:00 pm
Location: Koolau Golf Club
Get your tickets now! Visit HI.SierraClub.org/40th or e-mail
Thank you for your support!
This past school year we were able to make positive impacts through our various school programs. With the support of over 2600 members and over 400 volunteers, we served almost 14,000 students islandwide in Hawai’i. Here’s how we measure up:
* Environmental Education Field Trip Assistance – 2023 students, 100 teachers, 25 schools
* Environmental Education Mini Grants – 256 students, 16 teachers, 4 schools
* AINA IS Garden Lessons - 600 students, 28 teachers, 3 schools
* Schools with Gardens on Campus - 8 schools
* Kokua Earth Action Projects - 1280 students, 62 teachers, 14 schools
* 3R’s Program - 9576 students, 527 teachers, 16 schools
* Worm Bins-Composting – 96 students, 8 teachers, 3 schools
* KHF membership – 2671 (If you are not a member, join now!)
* Volunteers - 410
We are looking forward to making bigger impacts this school year!
“GO GREEN!” at School
Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind at the start of this new school year:
1) Pack a smart lunch.
• Use reusable containers, utensils, and cloth napkins to pack a waste-free lunch of yummy local and/or organic products. Whole fruits come in their own “wrapper” and are healthier than processed snacks! Visit LunchLessons.org or WastefreeLunches.org for more ideas.
2) Rethink your school supplies.
• Before buying new, check out which supplies from last year are still usable.
• Purchase earth-friendly school supplies like recycled paper, refillable pens and pencils, and durable supplies that will last for several years.
3) Get involved in greening your school!
• Save energy, start a garden, or reduce and recycle waste on campus. Get more ideas GreenSchools.net.
• “Increase Your Green School” Competition – Applications due December 15
DoSomething.org is calling on students to green their schools! Students who make the biggest effort to reduce their school’s carbon footprint this fall could win up to $1,500 to further their efforts.
Get your KHF 2008-2009 School Calendars now!
From July 2008 through June 2009, this edition features vibrant works of art that follow the theme “The Earth is Our Playground.” Facts found in these pages offer helpful ways to minimize our carbon footprints. The 35 Hawai’i school students whose artwork is featured will each receive a set of LED light bulbs for their home as part of our offsetting efforts for the 2008 Kokua Festival. All proceeds from the sale of this calendar will go to Kokua programs. Printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper with soy inks. Cost: $10.
Visit the Kokua Store to get your copy today! View the artwork here.
Recycle Variety of Paper Types
Hawai’i’s largest commercial printer recycles junk mail, phone books, bundled magazines (printed on glossy paper, too) — for free! Bring them to Hagadone, 274 Pu’uhale Road, between 8 a.m. and noon on the second Saturdays of each month. Hagadone shreds, bales and recycles more than 140 tons of paper per month; Myah Ely, 847-5310 or HagadonePrinting.com.
SAVE THE DATE!
40th Anniversary Gala
Saturday, September 27, 2008
5:30 – 9:00 pm
Location: Koolau Golf Club
Get you tickets now! Visit hi.sierraclub.org/40th or e-mail
Individual tickets: $75
Join the ‘AINA IS team of volunteers!
With the support of teachers, school administrators, and parents we’ve just completed a very successful ‘AINA IS two year pilot program with five schools on O’ahu. Five more schools will join in this fall. To support the rapid growth and sustainability of ‘AINA IS we need dedicated community volunteer support:
• Nutrition Docent: Teach nutrition lessons in the school to 2nd, 5th, or 6th graders. (Commitment: Attend 4 trainings and teach 8 classroom lessons per school year)
• Nutrition Lesson Assistant: Assists the nutrition docent with shopping for food, and assists during the lesson with food prep and lesson cart preparation. (Commitment: Assist with 8 classroom lessons per school year, 2 per quarter)
• Garden Lesson Assistant: Assists lead Garden Educators who teach garden lessons in schools. (Commitment: Attend 3 garden lessons per semester for K, 1st, or 5th grades. Once a semester for 4th grade.)
• Garden Party: Help to build and maintain school gardens. Duties can include assembling garden boxes, loosening soil, shoveling mulch, creating garden artwork, watering, and more. (Commitment: Attend “Garden Parties” at the beginning, middle and end of each school year, or as frequently as every week, depending on volunteer’s availability)
• Farm Connections: Do you know a farmer that may be interested in hosting a field trip, speaking to a class, or offering their local produce as a school menu option? Let us know!
There is something for everyone and training is provided! E-mail us at for more information!
Plastic Free Hale’iwa Update
The Plastic Free Hale’iwa Coalition now has over 50 members actively using and seeking out alternatives to single-use plastic. Hale’iwa is buzzing with new ideas and its businesses are making positive changes. The Coalition will have countertop displays and customer sign-up cards in the participating coalition businesses by the end of the month. Please look for these displays and support these stores and restaurants!
Attention Teachers!
Environmental Education Mini-Grants Available!
Does your classroom need a worm bin? Would you like a presentation on eco-footprints from The Green House. Kokua has started a mini-grant program to help Hawai’i public school teachers pay for supplies and trainings for their environmental education initiatives! Applications for this school year are available here.
This has been a great year for Environmental Field Trips!
26 schools participated in Kokua’s Environmental Education Field Trip Assistance Program during the 2007-2008 school year. In all, over 2000 students from Hawai’i’s schools were able to visit locations like Maui Nature Center in Iao Valley, Hawai’i Nature Center in Makiki, Waihe’e Shoreline on Maui and Camp Erdman on O’ahu’s North Shore. Principal Sheldon Oshio, along with the 2nd grade teachers of Waimalu Elementary School shared this about their recent trip to Hawai’i Nature Center, “… this field trip provided a wonderful learning experience for our students as well a first hand look in to the Cycles of Nature. They were given an opportunity to see, hear, and touch nature outside the classroom. Our students now have a better understanding and appreciation of nature’s delicate balance and how they can take an active role in the world around them. This certainly was a memorable field trip for all.�?
We look forward to supporting many more environmental field trips in the upcoming school year!
Why are these field trips so important? View this short video produced by the No Child Left Inside Coalition on the value of experiential environmental education. Check it out and sign on to the coalition today!
All At Once Community
All At Once (www.AllAtOnce.org) is Jack Johnson’s social action network providing information, tools, and motivation to empower individuals to become active in their local and world community. When on www.AllAtOnce.org, members discuss, explore, share, volunteer, and learn about important environmental issues and are rewarded for taking environmental action with free music downloads from Jack Johnson and friends. At Jack Johnson’s concerts, All At Once comes to life in the Village Green. Concert-goers connect with non-profit groups, learn about environmental actions they can take, capture environmental commitment photos, and enter to win a chance to watch Jack’s performance from the stage. Jack Johnson selected over 150 credible local non-profits worldwide to share their message online and in person at each show throughout the tour. Kokua Hawai’i Foundation is proud to be a non-profit partner of the All At Once Community. For a complete list of all non-profit groups and to become an All At Once member, visit www.AllAtOnce.org.
MAKE YOUR EARTH DAY RESOLUTION TODAY
Start a tradition of committing to reduce your eco-footprint every Earth Day and throughout the year. Our partners at Kanu Hawai’i will help us record Earth Day Resolutions year-round here on our website to measure the positive impacts we make together.
Big Mahalo to Kokua Festival Attendees, Volunteers, Performers and Supporters!
photo: Brian Bielman
Mahalo nui loa for another amazing year!
2008 Kokua Festival Merchandise
Missed it at the show? The Eco-Friendly 2008 Kokua Festival Merchandise will be available for sale via the Kokua Hawaii Foundation online store starting Monday, April 28th.