COMMUNITY EVENTS TO ENCOURAGE KEIKI TO SAY “I BELONG” February 7, 2022

Project Pilina is preparing for Foster Care Awareness Month in May with a number of events. This year’s campaign theme, “I Belong,” will share the various ways family comes into our lives. Together with Rhea Lana’s and Wet‘n’Wild, Project Pilina will highlight that there is a place for all keiki and the need for community conversations around Hawaiʻi’s foster care system.

The hope is for Hawaiʻi’s keiki, including those in foster care, to feel a sense of belonging. On any given day in Hawaiʻi, there are approximately 1,500 keiki in foster care. PIDF hopes to raise awareness around the need for more safe and loving resource (foster) homes in Hawaiʻi.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS: 

Hawaiʻi Spring Art Contest – Now until March 21, 2022 

Students K-12 Statewide are encouraged to create original art pieces that reflect and incorporate what belonging means to them. The winning design will be featured on a t-shirt in celebration of Foster Care Awareness Month and the “I Belong” theme. Five prize packages from Wet‘n’Wild and Project Pilina will be awarded to the top artists selected. 

Click here to see the full details!

Brunch & Spree – Feb. 27, 2022, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Project Pilina along with Rhea Lana’s of Honolulu, a pop-up consignment shop at Pearlridge Center will co-host a Brunch and Spree on Sunday, Feb. 27. Project Pilina will share about foster care with shoppers, offer continental breakfast while supplies last, and distribute discount cards to Wet‘n’Wild redeemable for the Wet‘n’Wild After Party.

Hawaiʻi Spring Keiki Fashion Show – March 5, 2022 

Join Project Pilina for their first-ever keiki fashion show at the former Toys “R” Us Pearlridge location. Keiki will model fashions provided by Rhea Lana’s Honolulu on the runway, alongside Hālau Nā Mamo O Puʻuanahulu, Hoʻololi, and The Sonny Ching Collection with Paradisus. Entertainment and guest seating begins at 5 p.m.; fashion show starts at 6 p.m.

Foster Families Shop For Free – March 7, 2022, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. 

Families in foster care are invited to shop for free at Rhea Lana’s consignment shop at Pearlridge Center. The annual event is put on to mahalo the resource caregivers who have opened their homes to children in care. Rhea Lana recognizes that many keiki in foster care come with few possessions. The Shop For Free event allows keiki to fill their closets with affordable fashion. 

Wet‘n’Wild After Party Hawaiʻi Spring Break Celebration – March 19, 2022, 10:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. 

Project Pilina will be distributing discount cards to use exclusively on March 19 at the Wet‘n’Wild After Party with a Diveʻn’Movie event featuring Disney’s latest film, Encanto, a tale of an extraordinary family. Discount cards for Wet‘n’Wild obtained from Brunch & Spree may be redeemed for half off admission to Wet‘n’Wild (up to a party of four) or upgrade a season pass for free, and be entered in Wet‘n’Wild’s two-year lease car giveaway to celebrate the new MINI of Hawaiʻi at Kapolei dealership.