Kokua Festival Announcement

December 23, 2008

Aloha Kokua Festival Fans,

After hosting five consecutive and successful years of the Kokua Festival, we have decided to take a break. We’d like to send out a big ‘mahalo’ to everyone who has supported the festival over the years, and especially thank the artists who have donated their positive energy and memorable performances. 

We appreciate all the wonderful environmental actions that you have taken at the Kokua Festival and shared in your hometowns.  Please continue to visit our website to stay a part of the Kokua family.  The Kokua Hawai’i Foundation continues to support environmental education in the schools and communities of Hawai’i. We are looking forward to spending the time that we would have dedicated to planning the festival and using it to strengthen and expand our Kokua Hawai’i Foundation programs. 

Although we will not be holding the Kokua Festival in 2009, this week the Sundance Channel will air their feature highlighting Kokua’s past five years.  Air times are:

You can also visit KokuaFestival.com and enjoy scenes from the past five years of the Kokua Festival.

We hope to see you again in the future!

the Kokua Hawai’i Foundation Gang

Come down to the Green Market Gift Fair

Check out the Green Market Gift Fair on December 6 for something extra special for your Secret Santa!  The Green Market offers alternatives for your holiday shopping; from native plants to the culinary swap meet, to buying a Gift of Service in your loved ones name. There will also be keiki activities and greening demonstrations throughout the day.  The Kokua Hawaii Foundation will be selling reusable water bottles, reusable tote bags, seeds, and Gifts of Service in the form of garden lessons.  Bring a white shirt for a tie-dye gift! Come join us!

Church of the Crossroads, 1212 University Avenue, Honolulu
Saturday, 12/6, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There is some parking at the Church; if it is full, there is parking at the Old Varsity Theater parking lot for $3

Click here to see how you can make your commitment to Simplify the Holidays! 

‘AINA In Schools Family Night with Chef Ed Kenney

For the ‘AINA In Schools program, hosting a family cooking demo is another great way to shine a light on healthy, local, fresh food, and how good it can taste.  A key ingredient to a superb cooking demo is a fun and talented chef, and we knew just the one.

Ed Kenney, owner of two popular restaurants: Town and DownTown on O’ahu and an advocate for using fresh, local ingredients, demonstrated how to make Stone Soup, a soup that “has no recipe.” What makes this soup unique is that its flavors depend on what vegetables and herbs are in season locally.  Many of the ingredients in the soup were grown a few footsteps away in the Waikiki Community Gardens and donated by community gardeners.

Ed is inspired by the Stone Soup story and likes to refer to his version as Pohaku Soup. The ‘AINA In Schools Family Night attendees included families from several of the ‘AINA IS Schools on O’ahu, community and parent volunteers, and steering committee members.  Kids also enjoyed making crafts from recycled materials, and got some tips on how to “Simplify the Holidays” too.

Check out KGMB’s coverage of the event here.