volunteers

Christmas Caroling: A Delightful Service and Tradition**

The pandemic years certainly put a damper on a number of activities worth doing, especially those that encourage socializing and connecting with fellow human beings.  Sighs of relief were exhaled all over the world when the pandemic’s scourge was cut to a manageable level. Things are inching towards normal, including the revival of Christmas traditions that were severely verboten in the past two years.  One of these is Christmas caroling. On December 13 last year, an opportunity arose for a…

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Julie Hess: An Eye for Art, A Heart for Earth

One doesn’t have to be a global leader nor a scientist to understand the impact of climate change on our planet.  Among other things, small island-states like our own in the vast Pacific stand to bear the brunt of rising waters.  This situation was made visually starker in a recent speech on the impact of global warming by Tuvalu’s minister delivered and filmed while knee-deep in ocean water. It was another global disaster – still possibly triggered by relentless development…

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Richard Tran: Helping Build an ALS Residence for Hawaii, One Burger at a Time

My niece, Darlene, who is one-half of my so-called “IT Department,” invited a couple of her friends from Seattle to spend a week on Oahu. One of them was Richard who laughed his funny way into our hearts.  He ended up extending his stay into Christmas, to participate in our annual holiday shenanigans, usually orchestrated by the young people in my big Filipino family. In short, my family took to him as he fell in love with Oahu hard.  He…

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