Kau Wela Leʻaleʻa at Hui Mālama O Ke Kai in Waimanalo is a FREE, 4-week summer program open to upcoming 5^th through 8^th grade students that want to continue their learning in a cultural setting with a focus on reading, math and physical activity.

Their next summer program is tentatively scheduled for June 20^th to July 15^th. Contact their Keiki Program Lead with any questions at keiki@huimalamaokekai.org.

Kaukau 4 Keiki provides nutritious meals to keiki across our state through summer meal box programs, in partnership with the Dept. of Education's Hawai‘i Child Nutrition Program. Currently, the Maui program is full but O’ahu’s application is still open, Kaua'i is accepting applicants to its waitlist, and Hawai’i Island residents are invited to register starting June 5th on the Vibrant Hawai’i website.  

If you would like to donate to this program or volunteer, visit the Kaukau 4 Keiki website.

Gardening Grant Applications Open

Kids Gardening Lots of Compassion Grant is designed to support local leaders looking to transform vacant lots into gardens to help grow compassion in their community. In 2023, up to 10 grantees will receive $20,000 each to transform a vacant lot into a garden. A total of $200,000 will be awarded annually.

Nonprofit organizations, school districts, universities, groups, religious organizations, or other tax-exempt organizations in the United States and US Territories are eligible to apply. Applicants must use the funds to build a garden in a vacant lot.

Winner-selection is based on demonstrated need and program impact and considers socioeconomic & sociodemographic factors, priority is given to programs where pre-existing resources (financial or otherwise) are limited. To apply, get application support, and to find other grant opportunities, visit the Kids Gardening website.

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 Ka Pouhana Recruiting Peer Mentors

Ka Pouhana is an innovative student-driven mentoring program developed by local students for local students to grow and secure the pipeline to college for youth on Hawaiʻi Island.  

The tiered mentoring program is modeled on a number of successful student-led and partnership mentoring models, as well as previous research on adolescent development and student support conducted by Dr. Margary Martin, Executive Director of the Hilo Center and Associate Professor in UH Hilo’s School of Education, who will lead the mentoring program. 

 

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Workshops from Vibrant Hawai 'i

Join Vibrant Hawai’i to bridge pathways for a skilled, fulfilled, globally engaged & thriving Hawaiʻi Island  by joining their Education Stream forum.  Each of their six streams – education, the economy, housing coalition, health and well-being, resilience hubs and ‘OAKA (youth leadership through civic engagement) – are designed to convene conversations, build awareness, will and action, and shift deficit narratives. Learn more about Vibrant Hawai’i.

Vibrant Hawai’i Ambassadors Amylia-Rae Gandolf and Benjamin Rudo invite you to participate in one or more life-saving workshops designed to equip you and your team with the skills and knowledge necessary in times of urgency. Our fellows will be offering Fentanyl Awareness and Narcan training, Hands-Only CPR training, and an introduction to the H.O.P.E (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) workshop. Learn more about each workshop or register today.

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Sixth Annual Mālama Nā Keiki Festival

Hui Mālama Ola Nā ʻOiwi is hosting this family-friendly event on Saturday, June 24th at the Pāhala Community Center from 10am - 2pm. Come enjoy fun activities, ʻono food and great prizes! The event is FREE and open to the public. 

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Place Matters Webinar with Hunt Institute and Harvard University 

“As the DOE begins its plans to create 100s of preschool classrooms in Hawai’i, great care needs to be inserted into curriculum and teacher professional development to include well founded, early developmental healthy foundations.  It’s another amazing opportunity for Hawaii’s keiki and teachers. Once you have a healthy foundation, the academics just come easily.” - Nancy Redfeather, School Garden, Ag and Ed champion, Hawai’i Island

A wide range of conditions in the places where children live, grow, play, & learn can get “under the skin” and affect their developing brains and other biological systems. This is the premise of an important new working paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child at Harvard called Place Matters.  

The Hunt Institute will be partnering with the Harvard Center on the Developing Child for a special conversation inspired by this report on Monday, June 12 (2pm EDT).  

Join Place Matters: How the Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Early Development

REGISTER HERE 
Find Hawai'i-based Farm to ECE and K-12 resources and opportunities here.

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Micro-Grants for Small-Scale Gardening

The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) is accepting applications for the popular Micro-Grant for Food Security Program (MGFSP) which provides support for small-scale gardening, herding and livestock operations to increase the quantity and quality of locally grown food in food insecure communities. A total of $2 million is available for this year’s program which was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the 2018 Farm Bill. 

This year’s program is open to:
•    Individuals, including backyard farmers – up to $5,000
•    Organizations that are registered to do business in Hawai‘i, including Native Hawaiian, non-profits, federally funded educational facilities – up to $10,000. Organizations receiving awards will be required to provide matching funds of at least 10 percent of the grant award. The matching funds cannot be derived from other federal sources.

The deadline for all applications is noon, June 15, 2023.

The online application form and program information for individuals are available at: https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/add/md/  

The Request for Proposals for organizations is posted on the State Procurement Office website at: https://hands.ehawaii.gov/hands/opportunities/opportunity-details/22883 

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  BRIGHT SPOTS
What's Happening in Schools to Support Wellness?

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Ke Kula ‘O ‘Ehunuikaimalino Graduation Rich in Tradition

Speaking only ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, the graduates of West Hawai‘i’s sole Hawaiian language immersion school were attired in their Sunday-best with the boys in collared white shirts and black slacks and the girls in white dresses. They received kīhei (a traditional Hawaiian wrap), which was tied on them by principal Jessica Dahlke. A lei hulu (feather lei) made by the students encircled their necks, and lei po‘o was placed on their heads.

The graduates performed kahiko (ancient) hula and were joined by classmates for several songs at the ceremony attended by family, friends and fellow schoolmates, kindergarten through 11th grade.

“It’s exciting to see them on their journey and looking forward to seeing what happens next and how they bring these values and skills into their future,” said Principal Jessica Dahlke, “We want them to remember the values and remember the culture and remember their roots of Hawaiian language, but walk in the rest of the world as well.” 

Ke Kula ‘O ‘Ehunuikaimalino is a proud Blue Zones Project Approved^TM School. 

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2023 Micronesia Festival Celebration

The theme of this year’s festival was Resilience, showcasing the rich and diverse cultures of Micronesia with crafts, stories, dance and food. The event was a hybrid of virtual and in-person activities, including a Youth Live Stream called, “Let’s Talk for Real: Racial Equity & Youth Resilience in Hawai‘i."  

Over 200 Micronesian community members were on site to perform and share weaving, carving and other cultural information. Authors of Rising from Our Roots: A Collection of Stories by the Multilingual Students of Waipahu High School were on hand to discuss their project.

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Hawaiʻi Youth Food Council Celebrates Youth Voice at the We Grow Summit

Hawaiʻi Youth Food Council (HYFC) hosted the 8^th Annual We Grow Hawai‘i: a Youth Food Summit to bring youth leaders together to improve our food systems in Hawai’i. HYFC hosts this event annually to promote youth voices and encourage involvement in our islands’ food systems. 

This year's We Grow Summit theme was "Teaching our keiki about nutrition and agriculture today creates the leaders for a healthier ʻāina tomorrow.” Read the Star Advertiser’s article about the event here. “My message to Hawaii’s youth would be that they have a voice too, and their opinions matter a lot,” said Gigi Kiyabu, a member of HYFC.  

A new youth advocacy group called the Hawaiʻi Youth Food Action Network (HYFAN) was launched at the workshop. To learn more about how to get involved with HYFAN or to inquire about becoming a council member or adult ally of the council, please contact hyfc@hiphi.org.

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Join the Well-Being Movement!