KEEP THE LIGHT BURNING

I know what it feels like to be taken away from home.

When my mom, brother and I left Hawaiʻi, I was separated from my ʻohana, my people, my culture, the ʻina and wai that shaped who I was. I had to learn what it meant to continue living as a Hawaiian while being far from Hawaiʻi.

Looking back, I understand how fortunate I was.

My mother, along with some aunties and uncles, and other islander youth who surrounded us, created something that became much more than a place to gather. They created a place where I could continue to grow as a kanaka, even while living thousands of miles from home.

That community would eventually become Ke Kukui Foundation.

I grew up within this work. I learned from the people who gave their time, knowledge, aloha, and talents to make sure that distance from Hawaiʻi did not have to mean distance from who we are.

When my mother passed, carrying Ke Kukui Foundation forward became my kuleana.

And today, I understand that kuleana differently because I have lived the reason this work matters.

There are Hawaiian families raising children away from Hawaiʻi who are trying to give them a connection to something they may not get to experience every day. There are people who have been away from home for decades who still long for the feeling of being among their people. There are young people figuring out who they are, practitioners carrying knowledge that needs places to be shared, and community members searching for somewhere they can feel rooted and belong.

Ke Kukui Foundation creates those spaces.

Through cultural education, gatherings, opportunities for practitioners and artists, youth experiences, and 4 Days of Aloha, we create opportunities for culture to be not only remembered or celebrated, but lived.

I know what that can do for a person because it was done for me.

Now, I want to make sure the light that so many people kept burning for my generation is still burning for the generations that follow.

This Give More 24!, I'm asking you to help me carry that kuleana.

Your gift to Ke Kukui Foundation helps ensure that our people continue to have places to gather, learn, teach, connect, and grow, no matter how far from home they may be.

To my mother, and to every aunty, uncle, kumu, practitioner, volunteer, and community member who helped create that place for me, mahalo nui.

And to everyone willing to help us create it for someone else: mahalo for helping us keep the light burning.