Giving back has always been a part of who we are

I want to start with gratitude.

Our family is safe. Our warehouse came through Lala with no damage. Almost everything we spent that Friday bracing for did not happen to us, and I know how many people this week cannot say the same.

So when I say we are running behind, or we donʻt have set hours yet that we had planned to announce or that we are pushing our next release back a week, itʻs because we have been so preoccupied and taking time to process the weekend. Being a little behind is nothing next to what some families are sorting through right now.

Giving back has always been a part of who we are.

It has been built into how we operate since the early days, quietly, most of the time without a post about it. But then Lala came through, and we saw the devastation, and we wanted to do more.

The hardest part of giving back is always the feeling of being judged by others who may think we should do more, give more. But we always wish we could do more. Every single time. But as Iʻve learned along the way, we still have to make sure we pay the bills so we can keep doing what we do at all.  

That is the tension of running a small business and sometimes leading with our heart. You want to just give everything but you also know that if you do, there is no business next month to give anything at all. I have not found a clean answer to that one in ten years and I am not going to pretend I have it now.

So we do what we can, when we can, as much as we can. This week we can do a little more than usual.

Ulu Aʻe Learning Center

Ulu Aʻe is a place we already support. They run culture and place-based programs for keiki out in the ʻEwa and Kapolei area, and they steward Puʻuokapolei. They help kids build a real relationship with the place they live.

Their shade sail was damaged. A couple of trees came down. Their community showed up to help them fix the shade sail and remove the trees. And they have been without power this week and they have kept going anyway. 

I have been watching on their social media as they moved the whole classroom outside. No lights inside, so they took the keiki outside all while being grateful. Still showing up for those kids in a week where nobody would have blamed them for closing the doors.

That is the part I cannot stop thinking about. 

Why this one

There is going to be a lot of need in the coming weeks, and a lot of good places to send help. 

But here is what I keep coming back to. When everything else gets disrupted, somebody still has to hold the normal for our keiki. Somebody has to make sure that in a week where the power is out and the yard is a mess and the grownups are stressed, a kid still gets to have their Wednesday.

Ulu Aʻe did that this week without being asked and without waiting for their own situation to get better first. And that inspires me so much.

So we are not just continuing our giveback. We are adding to it.

What we're doing this weekend

Today through Sunday, shipping is on us for orders $50 and up. No code needed, it comes off at checkout.

And we are giving 10% of this weekend's sales to Ulu Aʻe. You can shop from the comfort of your home.

If you would rather give to them directly, you absolutely should. They take donations at uluae.org.

Stay safe out there. Check on your neighbors. Share aloha today and every day.

Leilani