Taste of the Nation Hawai’i

Kokua Hawai’i Foundation’s ‘AINA In Schools program has been selected as the beneficiary of Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation Hawai’i! 

Join Honorary Chef Chair Alan Wong on April 29 at the Bishop Museum for this first ever event. Enjoy tastings of Hawai’i's best farmers and artisan producers, prepared by a dozen of Hawai’i's hottest and most talented chefs, along with cocktails, wine and local beer. The main stage will feature ukulele specialist, Jake Shimabukuro, among other exiting local entertainers. A silent auction will include exclusive packages and one-of-a-kind culinary experiences.

Get your tickets today!

Community Recycling Program Notification

Participating 3R’s School Recycling Program schools have recently been notified of potential changes to their school recycling pick-up services. The City & County of Honolulu is phasing out the service contract for the Community Recycling Bins with Honolulu Disposal Service (HDS) effective on June 30, 2012.  The DOE Facilities team is exploring alternative options for recycling pick-up services for public schools. Several recycling companies are interested in collecting recyclables from schools and working to come up with no-cost options for school recycling. The white Community Recycling Bins on school campuses will be removed after June 30th unless the C&C, DOE and private recycling companies come up with another recycling pick-up solution for the schools before this time.

Kokua Hawai’i Foundation is helping to facilitate these conversations and is hopeful that a viable solution is on the horizon. In the meantime, Kokua Hawai’i Foundation will continue to assist local schools to reach their waste reduction goals through recycling drives and student-led recycling education campaigns.  Stay tuned for any developments regarding recycling pick-up solutions available for local schools.

Recently KITV aired a news piece about the announcement entitled “Community Recycling Program To End”.  You can view the clip here: http://www.kitv.com/news/30425052/detail.html.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Healthy Snacks & Waste-Free Lunch Classroom Celebrations

Before planning your holiday or end-of-year class parties, check out the newly released Healthy Snack and Waste-Free Classroom Celebrations Resource Guide.  Encourage your school to serve healthy snacks during HSA week as Sunset Beach Elementary School did last month.  This resource will also give you ideas to increase compliance with the DOE Wellness Policy, while reducing your environmental footprint.

Annual Hawai’i Farm to School Conference

SAVE THE DATE! The 5th Annual Hawai’i Farm to School Conference “Growing From the Ground Up” will be held on O’ahu, on June 1st and 2nd, 2012. This year’s conference is hosted by Kokua Hawai’i Foundation, Hawai’i Association of Independent Schools, and Waikiki Elementary School and will include visits to other farm to school sites on O’ahu.

School Garden and Classroom Teachers (Pre K-Grade 12) of public/private/charter schools are invited to attend. Teams of two (2) teachers will be given preference, as well as schools that have started the process for planning, building, and implementing a farm to school and/or school garden program.

Registration information coming soon! To stay in the loop on Hawai’i Farm to School and School Garden news and information we encourage you to subscribe to the ‘AINA In Schools eNewsletter.

Plastic Free Schools

Kokua Hawaii Foundation is proud to welcome Kapolei High School to the Plastic Free Schools Program!

Kapolei High School has partnered with Malama Learning Center and the Wai`anae Farmers’ Market, to provide the community with Makeke Kapolei, a weekly farmers’ and green market every Thursday from 3:00 - 6:30 p.m. at the Kapolei High School parking lot. They don’t sell bottled water at the market and instead provide free water stations so people can fill up their own reusable water bottles.  They also recently banned vendors from giving out plastic bags.  In an effort to educate market go-ers on why they have banned the use of plastic bags, The Go Green club at Kapolei High School will be hosting THREE screenings of “Bag it” during the March 22 market at 3:30, 4:40 pm AND 5:30 pm.

In addition to the three “Bag It” screenings, The Go Green and Photo Clubs have teamed up to do a beach cleanup on March 25th at Oneula beach park.  Come lend a hand and support the cleanup and “Bag It” screenings!

For more information on the above events contact Janice via email or by phone 542-9107.

Shout out to Waialua and Mililani High Schools who both hosted “Bag It” screenings in February. Students and community members came out in force to see the film and support student’s efforts to reduce single-use plastics on their campuses. Mililani High Schools’ event ignited so much interest that the high school students are taking their displays and games on the road to Mililani Uka Elementary!

Does your school have a Plastic Free initiative you need some support with? Register your project TODAY and join the growing list of Plastic Free Hawai’i Schools! Contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information.