Hau‘oli Mau Loa Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation established by Helga Glaesel-Hollenback who, in her words, “found great happiness in the islands of Hawai‘i” and sought “to return the generosity of the islands.” As such, the Foundation is grounded in Hawai‘i’s cultures and values. The Foundation holds an annual convening of partner grantees with two goals in mind: to provide a space where they could share and learn from one another, and to help them feel excited and renewed. This year's convening will be hosted by Mālaʻai, the Culinary Garden of Waimea Middle School in Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island.

In the Spring of 2014, Hōkūle‘a and Hikianaliʻa will leave from Hilo on the Worldwide “Mālama Honua” Voyage 2013-2017. Connecting students to this voyage of discovery, can happen in many many different ways. For the next four years, the Hawaiʻi Island School Garden Network and our Voyaging Partners and Collaborators will work with teachers and in School Gardens on Hawaiʻi Island to grow food, dry and preserve food, experiment with recipes, learn some of the ancient fiber arts, and create food products that can be shared with the crews on some of the legs of the voyage.http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2013/11/18/video-aipono-workshop-teaches-cooking-for-the-canoe. The next workshop will be on “The Art of Drying the Fruits of Hawaiʻi.” Stay tuned for date and time.

Dr. Richard Manshardt from UH-CTAHR will discuss types of varieties, papaya genetics, cross pollination and gene flow, maintaining seed purity, seed sources, seed selection, and seed saving. Bring your own papaya leaf sample for testing. Free if you participate in a gene flow mapping study, otherwise testing is $3.00 per sample. Leaf samples should be gathered using a baggie. The leaf should be the size of a quarter and light green.