4 & 3 . . . reading, writing 'n houses

 

let the kokua countdown continue . . .

no. 4 - hawaii literacy
there is nothing like getting lost in a good book . . . especially when you're growing up on an island far from the rest of the world. and even if you are not a bookworm, well, you probably never realize how much easier reading makes your life (filling out paperwork, navigating a street map, reading your favorite blog, etc).

hawaii literacy runs classes where volunteers work with adults who need help with basic reading & writing skills. they also operate the bookmobile which brings books to kids living on the west side. me - i'm gathering up books to send home to stock the bookmobile with a complete set of my beloved childhood series, betsy-tacy (which just happens to be one of island girl bette midler's favorites too).

and if you are weeding out your bookcase before the end of the year, before you take everything to goodwill remember that most libraries welcome book donations to stock the sales run by the friends of the library.

no. 5 - habitat for humanity
well, if you are celebrating the holidays in the warmth of your home remember that the recent housing crunch has pushed far too many local families out to the beachparks (check out the "homeless on the waianae coast" series at the honolulu advertiser).

i sometimes wonder what the impact would have been had all the people who bought & sold vacation homes in their island paradise & the real estate agents who love them had made a 1% donation to the habitat chapter on the island where the property is located. food for thought.

whether you want to donate cash, building materiels to the re-store, or a little sweat equity, here's a list of habitat chapters around the islands:

• big island - hilo & kona | kauai | maui | molokai | oahu - honolulu & leeward

tropical kicks

i'm trying to kick a winter cold before leaving for the holidays, but i couldn't resist posting a little something for all the sneaker freaks out there who may want to get their hands on a collaboration between island snow, slick & gravis.

only 250 pairs of the limited edition na ali'i will be cobbled together and, even though they won't be ready until the end of january, a pre-order click will reserve your very own pair of island inspired kicks before they sell out.

{mahalo jungle life!}

no. 5 - mala'ai'opio

as often as we have driven out to the west side for my fella's dawn patrol surf sessions when we go home, i never realized that there were as many as 200 mom & pop farms hidden throughout the valley. one of them is the grassroots effort at mala'ai'opio (aka ma'o) which was established a few years ago as an organic farm where the 15 to 25 demo on the waianae coast could simultaneously receive vocational training while learning to care for the 'aina.

many island foodies have enjoyed ma'o's organic produce which is dished up at alan wong's, town restaurant, and aloha 'aina cafe. with the popularity of its produce growing, ma'o is working to expand its programs at waianae h.s. and turn the current 10 month internship into an associates degree at lcc. the good work they are doing to make the waianae coast more self-sufficient is as cool as their mantra:

no panic . . . go organic!

click here to learn how you can make a difference!

jet set holiday

you're in luck if you want to skip the family festivities and go island hopping this weekend. hawaiian & go have knocked a few bucks off their latest airfare war bringing xmas travel around hawaii down to only $25 o/w.

if you're not in a rush, you can also score $29 o/w tix for travel through jan 31st on all three airlines. the deadline for sale no. 2 falls on xmas day.

also, you may want to consider the gift of flight for the jet setters on your list. hawaiian has gift certificates available from $50-$5000 that can be emailed to the recipient while aloha has gift tickets on sale until the end of the year.

details:

• book it: xmas sale - asap; $29 sale - by dec 25th
• fly: xmas sale - dec 24th & 25th ; $29 sale - now to jan. 31st
• cities: honolulu to hilo *or* kahalui *or* kona *or* lihue

fly, fly, fly: aloha airlines | go! | hawaiian airlines

big island delights

 

thanks to the melting point of chocolate, fedex is the go to man for big island delights which means you still have time to stuff yourself or someone you love silly with ono snacks this holiday. the family run business whips up everything from furikake party mix to chocolate dipped biscotti (yum!) using ingredients like fresh island eggs and maui sugar.

check out the online shop for the full line of preservative-free goodies.