SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY
The National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, has awarded Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park an $8,800 grant to support the launch of Na Pulapula o Kealakehe (the seedlings of Kealakehe), a project that will grow native plants to be used for thatching and other traditional uses at the national park.
The grant is part of the National Park Foundation’s Impact Grant program, which gives parks the critical financial support needed to transform innovative, yet underfunded ideas into successful in-park programs and initiatives.
“This grant will allow both children and native plants to grow at the school. The children will grow in their knowledge of Hawaiian native plants and then they will apply this knowledge to produce useful plants for the construction of hale (houses) at the cultural site in the park,” said Jon Kokiel, a park ranger involved in setting up the project with the Kealakehe Elementary School campus.
The project seeks to inspire and educate children about gardening by growing culturally useful native plants. One goal is also to give the children an understanding of what sustainability means and the importance of growing food on an island, thus decreasing dependence on outside resources.