Spreading Aloha

Hana is a small town of approximately 1,000; the community is
close and it is not uncommon to see friends on a weekly basis at the general store, the post office or Hana Bay. Hana Tropicals is an active part of the Hana community, but we wanted to take our place in the community a step further by directly bringing our flowers to our neighbors and friends. On Tuesday Nov. 3, four of us went to Hale Hulu Mamo, Hana’s Senior Center. We brought over a hundred of our freshly cut and harvested tropical flowers, vases and floral foam to the seniors and fellow volunteers to enjoy a morning filled with floral arranging!

Hale Hulu Mamo is known throughout Hana for consistently putting on events and hosting activities. From the monthly ‘Movie Night in the Park’ to the annual Christmas parade, Hale Hulu Mamo is a place you can count on to bring the town of Hana together. Flower arranging with them was no different; their front porch was bursting with beautiful arrangements that the seniors had a blast putting together. Many were worried their shaky hands would interfere with handling the flowers, but were proved wrong when each and every arrangement turned out to be a stunning, unique variations of all our favorite flowers! The seniors had their pictures taken with their arrangements and will be taking them home to brighten up their kitchens.

“My grandchildren will especially love this fuzzy flower!” Auntie Charlotte claimed while pointing at a bright pink Heliconia flower. After floral arranging, we got the chance to sit down and share a snack and three games of bingo with the seniors. Everyone got the chance to win a bingo prize, resulting in a lot of cheering and smiles as each person went to retrieve their prize. We arranged leftover flowers from the activity into bundles and left them for seniors to bring to loved ones resting at the Hana graveyard.

What started as a single morning teaching the seniors more about floral arranging will now turn into a regular visit by Hana Tropicals to Hale Hulu Mamo, and we could not be more excited! It’s truly incredible to see our flowers bringing others joy and bringing the community of Hana together. Mahalo to Hale Hulu Mamo!