Community picnic provides keiki with hope, resources

HONOLULU (KHON2) — The community came together on Saturday, April 29 to provide keiki and their families with much needed resources.

Two local non-profits, Family Promise of Hawaiʻi and Healthy Mothers Health Babies hosted a fun day at the park that was meant to raise awareness as well as money to assist families in need.

The celebration took place from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in ʻAʻala Park in Chinatown.

The event included Lauren Teruya, 2022 Miss Hawaiʻi who spoke to the families and the community on the importance of providing support and resources to local families.

Also in attendance was Francoise Culley-Trotman, CEO, AlohaCare; Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, City Councilmember; Sunny Chen, Executive Director, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies; and Ryan Catalani, Executive Director, Family Promise of Hawaiʻi.

The keiki enjoyed free food and fun activities. Some of the fun included:

• free books.
• free clothing.
• free medical care and assistance.
• help with locating housing.
• and other resources that many low-income families with keiki in our community need.

There were also games and activities like inflatable and tabletop games, face painting and temporary tattoos.

Keiki had the opportunity to dance with Miss Hawaiʻi and to listen to stories during a drag performer story time, where local female impersonators read fun adventures from books to the keiki.

There was music provided by a local DJ known as DJ My Friend George.

There were also free bento boxes given to the first 500 attendees along with raffle prizes.

Family Promise of Hawaiʻi is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to help homeless and low-income families in Hawai’i achieve sustainable independence by mobilizing existing community resources and support.

Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaiʻi is a 501(c)3 nonprofit committed to improving Hawai‘i’s maternal, child, and family health through collaborative efforts in programs, public education, advocacy, and partner development.

To participate in providing resources for Hawaiʻi keiki and their families, you can click the links above. These will take you to ways of helping.

While protesters were in attendance, many from the community showed up to create a protective barrier between the protesters and the keiki.