November 7, 2007
Sometimes wishes come true
We’re not overly fond of shoes in Hawaii. Well, not the regular closed-up kind that you maybe have to wear socks or (ugh!) pahtyhose with. We like our toes to breath. Since we don’t wear our shoes in the house, slippahs are what we wear most. Yeah, rubber slippers. Shower thongs. Zoris. Flip-flops. Whatever you call them in your part of the world, over here they’re slippahs. They’re easy to take off when we get where we’re going. We step out of them at the door and it’s sometimes comical when lot of folks get together. They go to leave and have to paw through a mountain of slippahs to find the ones they came with, and maybe someone accidently took theirs becasuse they looked kind, sorta alike. Or they end up going home with one green and one black slippah because someone else stuck their feet in the wrong ones and never looked to see that they didn’t quite match. Kids are the worst for losing slippahs. They take them off at the beach or the playground and never think about them again until they come home barefoot and someone asks where’s their slippahs. It’s too late by then most of the time. The slippahs are gone, wherever it is that slippahs go. Sometimes there’s no money to buy new ones, so the keiki go around barefoot for a while until someone can save a few dollars for a new pair of slippahs for them to lose.
Auntie Pupule was thinking about kids and slippahs a few years ago when someone asked about Christmas wishes. She had noticed that a lot of the keiki who live in the Mayor Wright Homes didn’t have any slippahs, so she said “I wish for all the children of MWH to have a pair of rubber slippers so they won’t have to go barefoot.” Now Auntie Pupule is an activist and she doesn’t sit around and wait for things to happen. She started stirring things up and soon the MWH Slippah Fund was born. By the time Christmas rolled around in 2005 she had 500 pair of slippahs and some other gifts for the kids at MWH. They threw a big holiday party and all of the kids got gifts. Last year it was even bigger. This year it needs to be bigger still, because folks from some of the other housing projects would like Auntie Pupule to bring the Slippah Project to their keiki, too. You know she couldn’t say no!
Sometimes little things can make a big difference. Slippahs are little things, unless you don’t have any. Not having slippahs - that’s a big thing. I buy several pair a year for myself, and whenever I know someone is coming over to visit me from the mainland I ask them their shoe size. I buy them some slippahs and put them outside my front door so my guests will know they’re welcome. I don’t have a lot of money, but it’s a little thing I can do, so I do it. I can help the Slippah Fund too, so I did that. Now I want YOU to help, too. Like I said, I don’t have a lot of money, but if we do this together we can help Auntie Pupule buy a lot of slippahs for the keiki. Here’s what I’ll do. Go make your donation to the Slippah Fund. You’ll get a receipt via email. Forward that to me (you can take out your real name and any other sensitive info first.) I’ll match the donations my readers make, up to $100 above the amount I’ve already given. Donations need to get to the fund by November 29th so Auntie Pupule will have time to go shopping, so get your notification to me by November 28th and I’ll send the matching funds. Let’s get together and help the kids have a great party this year, with slippahs and gifts for all!
[tags]charity, children, Christmas wishes, Hawaii, rubber slippers, slippahs[/tags]
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November 7th, 2007 at 6:09 pm, Lee Says:
I love this idea skeet, thanks for putting it out there
November 7th, 2007 at 8:02 pm, AuntiePupule Says:
Wow! Awesome! What can say Skeet?
Wishes do come True! You just gotta BELIEVE!
MAHALO!!!
Auntie Pupule and Blaine
November 7th, 2007 at 11:31 pm, skeet Says:
Little things, Lee! Little things make the world go round!
November 7th, 2007 at 11:32 pm, skeet Says:
Aw! Mahalo to you, Auntie! This is a good and wonderful thing you’re doing. It’s a privilege to help in some small way.
November 8th, 2007 at 3:02 am, Corrin Says:
This is a lovely idea. I’ll be blogging and donating.
How much is a pair of slippahs? A store in my area always has them for less than $2 in the summer and I love them. I will stock up next year and send a big batch!
November 8th, 2007 at 5:23 am, Gutschein Says:
Little Things realy can make big difference!
November 8th, 2007 at 2:29 pm, skeet’s stuff » Share Some Good Stuff! Says:
[…] found a heart-warming story and an opportunity for all of us to help some children have a fun holiday with some simple rubber slippahs. There’s all kinds of other good stuff going on, though, so […]
November 8th, 2007 at 4:02 pm, skeet Says:
Mahalo for supporting and helping get the word out about the Slippa Fund, Corrin!
Plain slippahs can be pretty cheap. I know that the project gets support and price discounts from a distributor, so they’ll be able to get a lot more slippahs for the money than we could if we just bought them ourselves and mailed them in.
Yikes! Lightning! My computer just went off for a milisecond. Shutting down for a while. Back later, folks!
November 8th, 2007 at 4:05 pm, Starryskye.org » Slippahs! They Really Need Slippahs! Says:
[…] don’t think I could convey the message as well as my friend Skeet did in her blog entry about this. So, I will quote her here instead of trying to come up with my own. (Plus, I just did […]
November 8th, 2007 at 6:46 pm, skeet Says:
Yes, they can and do, Gutschein. Mahalo for yout interest!
November 9th, 2007 at 4:38 am, Winding Threads » Blog Archive » Slippahs Needed Says:
[…] lives better. She has explained how easy it is to help someone. Read her post and find out how Sometimes Wishes Come True. Let’s all do our part and help get slippahs for […]
November 10th, 2007 at 7:41 am, AuntiePupule Says:
Aloha Skeet! On my Blog this morning, I have included the Homeless Children of Waianae and Ewa Beach!
Mahalo to you and your wonderful readers!
Auntie Lynn aka Auntie Pupule
November 10th, 2007 at 9:29 am, Slippahs for the Keiki at champuru.net Says:
[…] are helping spread the word about the drive. One blogger, known as Skeet, has even offered to match funds up to $100 above the amount she’s already […]
November 10th, 2007 at 3:26 pm, skeet Says:
Auntie, I’m really excited that you’re bringing the slippah distribution to our Waianae keiki! Will they be having a party, too? Have you found a system for identifying the kids who will be gettings slippahs? I don’t know how to help with that end, but I’d love to help when you acutally get out here and DO IT,lol!
November 14th, 2007 at 7:19 pm, AuntiePupule Says:
Skeet! Great and exciting news! Dawn, the Wahine who started the Christmas Kid’s Campaign on the Leeward Coast two years ago called me. We will be meeting her on December 22nd at the 76 Service Station at Maile Point.
We will be distributing our slippahs the same time!
Love and ALOHA
Auntie Lynn aka Auntie Pupule
November 15th, 2007 at 9:49 pm, skeet Says:
Auntie Lynn, that’s truely exciting news. You have slippahs, she has kids - what a perfect combo! How can I help?
November 19th, 2007 at 12:14 pm, allysther Says:
Thank you so much for sharing this worthy cause with us, Skeet. The men and I were happy to help with this one. I sent a small comment to Auntie Lynn, but wanted to thank her here as well.
Thanks!
November 28th, 2007 at 9:36 am, skeet’s stuff » MWH Slippah Fund reminder Says:
[…] read my original post about the project or go straight to the source and visit with Auntie Lyn (linked above) to see what it’s all […]
December 20th, 2007 at 11:02 am, skeet’s stuff » Sharing Some Good Stuff Says:
[…] project that is most dear to my heart this holiday season is the The Slippah Fund, which my readers generously joined me in supporting. I’ll have an update and some […]
February 25th, 2008 at 1:27 pm, skeet’s stuff » Making wishes come true Says:
[…] where things stood when I first heard of the The Keiki Slippah Wish Fund and decided to ask my readers if they would help. The results of that one blog post were nothing short of […]
November 21st, 2008 at 7:19 am, skeet’s stuff » The Keiki Slippah Wish Fund Says:
[…] I do. I believe it because of you, my readers. Last year, right about this time, I told you about Auntie Lynn’s wish that the children in her housing project could all have shoes. Not just any shoes, though. They […]