Dec 19, 2018 | Community
Paula Baldwin is the new president of A Cup of Cold Water (ACCW), the community care-van outreach program on Maui− distributing food, hygiene items and clothing to the needy in the community. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization has grown from its Episcopal Church inception to include numerous volunteers, churches, and organizations from around the island.
Baldwin took over the position as ACCW president from its founder, retired deputy police chief Keku Akana. “Baldwin is doing a fantastic job!” said Akana. “Becoming the president of an all-volunteer homeless outreach ministry with more than 70 volunteers and plenty of moving parts is no easy feat. Under Baldwin’s leadership the ACCW group, and other wonderful volunteers, have realized all-around better communications. We launched the ACCW e-newsletter, organized a hard-copy filing system to include operational and administrative forms, ensured regular and timely board meetings, and created open communications and bridging between the various units of ACCW, including run leaders, ride volunteers, supply team, and support staff. But most of all, Baldwin works and weaves her way through many of the subtle and behind-the-scenes challenges that an outreach such as ours encounters as we deal with day-to-day operations. She keeps things within the realm of simplicity, safety, and specificity, keeping it focused on the chronic street poor as we serve on the streets of Maui.”
Akana added, “Baldwin is a visible miracle, a woman of great strength, grit, and tenacity. She answered a call at a time in life when most women, or men, are content with a slow pace, a ‘me’ calendar, and an ‘I’ lifestyle.” Agreeing, ACCW volunteer Jean Fiddes said, “I want to thank Baldwin for saying ‘Yes’ to this earnest work, and for her heartfelt service.”
Baldwin said, “It gives me joy to use my organizational skills, to join committed friends, and watch ACCW continue to grow as a life-giving project. Life-giving for those we serve, and life-giving for us. We are all one community, serving and being served. I have always found that helping those in need brings more happiness to our own lives.”
The standard that ACCW set is to share resources with the approximately 750 in-need community members a month, with gratitude and service from the heart.
Paula Baldwin, ACCW President
Dec 12, 2018 | Community
Lahaina resident Chutima Intarapanich, a cartoonist, comic artist, graphic novel artist, colorist, inker, illustrator, storyboard artist, and graphic designer, came to Maui for her master’s thesis in 2016. She undertook a project illustrating the background for a collection of paintings for the Lahaina Restoration Foundation’s (LRF) newly expanded Plantation Museum in Lahaina’s Wharf Cinema Center. The LRF restores and protects Lahaina’s historical legacies, celebrates its prominent place in Hawaii’s history and cultural traditions, and shares its story through preservation of significant sites, buildings, and artifacts.
Intarapanich, who received her Master of Fine Art in Graphic Novel Illustration in 2017 from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco said, “Research was very important in this Plantation Museum project. It is also important for creating truly original artworks. My art project consisted of creating a combination of six individual illustrations, showing the immigrants from six nations that moved to Hawaii: Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Puerto Ricans, Koreans, and Filipinos. The story is shown in six boards combined into one illustration, each board the story of one nation, its culture and its history.”
Clothes were a very big hint about the origins of people from Asia. Intarapanich had to research costume design based on what people working at the plantations in those days would be wearing.
In that time, people from a common geographic origin wore similar clothes, so she designed a combination of national costumes with influences from western culture.
“I measured the size of paper to plan how to draw the characters,” she explained. “After that I drafted the outline with curvilinear perspective to get the feeling of more space between them to highlight details of their lives in Hawaii. My art supplies consisted of sepia ink and fountain pen for inking the outlines, and sepia water color with brush and an old sponge for rendering, adding color, shading, and texture. Once my research and outlines for the six illustrations were completed, I finished the inking and painting. This LRF project was an extraordinary and educational experience.”
My art project at LRF illustrated and preserved art representing Lahaina’s different cultures, past and present.
Chutima Intarapanich, Maui artist
Dec 5, 2018 | Community
In December, Santa and his wife have a hectic schedule. Maui residents John and Lori Hughes, portraying Santa and Mrs. Claus, have been working for many years, directly under instructions from the North Pole. John Hughes, born and raised on Oahu, used to make appearances as Santa in the Kaneohe Christmas Parade. After moving to Maui in the late 90s, his Santa side awaited the right opportunity to continue volunteering. Lori Hughes, born and raised in Lahaina, always found ways to bring Christmas cheer by cookie baking, holiday decorating, even volunteering as a reindeer or elf for children’s events. Lori has contributed to the community for decades, volunteering her time—assisting the Maui Food Bank with distribution drives at Maria Lanakila Church, organizing food drives at her place of employment, reading to children in the Read Aloud America school programs, and much more.
“A few years ago, we decided to combine our volunteer efforts as Santa and Mrs. Claus,” said the Hughes, who now have authentic vintage Christmas outfits. “In collaboration with the Hansen family’s Annual Toy Drive, we made our first appearance benefitting the Friends of Children’s Justice Center. Additionally, we make appearances in the Kahului Library, the Kihei Library, the Maui Police Department’s Annual Children’s Holiday party, and other places in the community. In our Santa and Mrs. Claus personas we donate to the Maui Food Bank, lunch at Zippy’s, fill gas at Costco, pick up Christmas cards at Target, candy canes at Walmart, and visit local coffee shops. It takes people by surprise to see us out in the general public, not hired by the store, and not asking for money. We are simply humbled to have a moment with community members.”
Santa and Mrs. Claus concluded, “The magic we bring during Christmas ignites the spark to a child’s and adult’s imagination long after the holiday is over. It’s these moments of family and togetherness, smiles and laughter, that always live deep in our hearts. Santa and Mrs. Claus remind us to be kind to one another—that’s the most important thing. It’s all about love! Merry Christmas!”
Be sure to visit with us at noon on December 8th at the Kihei Library; on December 9th, 10am-2pm at Maui Makers to make toys and arts and crafts; and on December 23rd at 10am-1pm at the Westin Nanea to meet and take photos. Email mauisantaclaus@yahoo.com for more information.
Santa and Mrs. Claus
Nov 28, 2018 | Community, Small Business
Pamela Norris, a Maui resident and entrepreneur, has participated in numerous High Tech Maui business development programs offered by Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB). Norris, winner of the Small Business Administration’s 2016 InnovateHer Challenge locally hosted by MEDB, is the creator of ICEBUDDY™ Systems, Inc., a portable cooling system comprised of the QPACK and QOOLER that enables ice, water, medication, and emergency supplies to be stored and easily transported.
“My career has been dedicated to saving lives,” Norris explained. “I spent years as a first responder during natural disasters where I saw people lose their lives due to not having their medicine with them, not having food or water, as well as a lack of medical supplies. Seeing turmoil due to lack of refrigeration catapulted me to create the ICEBUDDY™ Systems to respond to unmet needs, and to save lives by prepositioning emergency preparedness products.”
Norris explained, “The QOOLER utilizes a patented, encased, non-toxic gel, which is capable of keeping its contents cold at the 36-46-degree range for 72 hours. That is three days of cooling capability without the use of ice or gel packs, that would otherwise melt and sweat on whatever is stored.”
The QPACK module is an innovative, modernized backpack meeting military specifications. Its unique flexibility enables carrying whatever is available, be it 120 ounces of water, a 10-pound bag of ice or a dozen 16-ounce water bottles. The built-in bladder and spigot allow access to water critical for life itself and necessary for taking most medications. It can be carried as a backpack, but it also fits on wheelchairs and walkers for the elderly and disabled. Rescue crews can airdrop medical supplies in difficult to reach terrain.
“Recently, the African American Heritage Foundation of Maui has collaborated with ICEBUDDY™ to provide free QOOLERs and QPACKs to needy citizens in Hawaii,” Norris noted. “They are seeking tax deductible contributions that will be used for this humanitarian purpose. We at ICEBUDDY™ Systems desire to make this revolutionary product available globally, particularly to vulnerable populations living on islands.” Visit www.icebuddy.net for information.
MEDB’s High Tech Maui business programs are focused on helping local entrepreneurs gain the needed edge and skills to succeed.
Pamela Norris, Founder, ICEBUDDY™ Systems
Nov 21, 2018 | Community, Environment
In this season of thanksgiving, we can gain inspiration from Matteo Musso, a frequent visitor to Maui, is a 14-year-old author, speaker, yet mostly non-verbal autistic young man. After almost 12 years of silence, Musso found his voice by spelling his thoughts, one letter at a time, on a stenciled letter board called a flatboard. His inspired thoughts, wisdom, and tips on autism are now being shared with the world.
Musso has given presentations at the Maui Autism Center, the Wisdom Center for Autism, on Maui Source TV, and wrote an article in Maui Vision Magazine. His books, “I am Yours” and “Love Land” are available on Amazon. He also has a YouTube series, Mondays with Matteo.
“It’s been a long road that led us to the miracle of finally getting to know Matteo,” said his mom, Annette. “He was diagnosed formally at age three, and after many years of difficult therapies was introduced to the Son-Rise program. Through the Rapid Prompting Method, he learned to communicate using the flatboard, which acts as a conduit between his deep thoughts and the expression of them in an understandable way.”
Annette continued, “Amazingly, Matteo was able to tell us what he thinks his life purpose is. He said he agreed with God to be a voice for the silent ones on this Earth and to encourage all of society to stop judging each other and move toward total acceptance of our differences, to see them as gifts which can bond us together instead of separating us. We can lift each other up even though our minds work differently, and we experience life in varied ways. Our differences provide depths of perspective, giving us many gifts to share.”
In a message of thanksgiving, Matteo said, “If we desire beautiful and fruitful crops in our lives, we don’t get to be bystanders. Seeing the good is an active choice on our part. Search for the things that are beautiful in your day. Notice the beauty that’s around you no matter what’s going on. We can plan our healthy harvest, then harvest the happiness that we have nurtured—even through the storms.”
Through a recent miraculous discovery, his trapped intelligence released, Matteo now shares amazing insights of love, God, finding happiness, and the gifts of autism.
Annette Musso, Matteo’s Mom
