Aloha!
Many years ago I wanted to start a non-profit organization to give-back to Hawai'i for all the amazingness it had/has given to me & everyone else I kno from these truly magical islands.
Mom---with all her wisdom & insight---suggested I name it "E Ola Kahiau": the life/practice of giving without expecting anything back in return. Absolutely perfect. Thanks, mom! & so it began.
With amazing people on our board of directors, and many others willing to help; we organized a "Meth-Awareness Day" back in 2011, with the mayor declaring November 12, 2011 an official E Ola Kahiau Meth Awareness Day! It was a great first step & whole-hearted effort.
But then life happened, as it often does, and E Ola Kahiau sat dormant until a little over a month ago, when I told mom I was ready to "dust-off" EolaK, and try to do some good again---AND, I wanted to tag her in on running it all [since I was occupied by the restaurants, and it's one of the things she was practically made for!]
She was happy to hear it; and I was beyond excited to work with her on it, and watch her crush it like everything she does, but that's as far as we got. Because mom passed away unexpectedly a week later.
Knowing how charitable mom was, and knowing she'd want us all to carry on; it only seemed appropriate that we perpetuate her legacy of giving thru the very foundation she named, and lived daily.
And thus, in her leaving, the rebirth of the E Ola Kahiau Foundation is here, and lives again---in mom's honor, memory, and true aloha spirit to give back with no expectation of anything in return.
-Eo Bonnie Hau'oli Bond Nam! Mahalo, mahalo, mahalo, from your loving son, Alika Ke'anoho'opono Nam.
