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The city is asking residents to donate lei or flowers for the 50,000 lei that will be placed on the grave markers of veterans at Oahu cemeteries for Memorial Day on Monday.
Officials for the first time set up a refrigerated container at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl so people could begin dropping off donations of lei beginning Wednesday.
HOW TO HELP
>> Join a group of volunteers sewing lei for veterans’ grave markers Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Honolulu Hale courtyard. The Royal Hawaiian Band Glee Club will sing. Bring your lunch.
>> Drop off lei today through Friday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and starting Friday at designated community parks from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at fire stations from 6:30 a.m. to noon, and at the city Parks Department Permit Office in the Fasi Municipal Building and at the Kapolei Hale security desk from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Designated parks are Ala Wai, Kailua, Kaneohe, Makiki, Makua Alii Center, Waialua, Waianae, Waiau, Waimanalo and Waipahu.
>> Drop off loose flowers for lei Friday from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Waipahu District Park, Kailua District Park and Makua Ali‘i Senior Center at 1541 Kalakaua Ave.
>> For more information, call the Parks Department at 768-3440. |
In past years, the collection began on the Friday before Memorial Day.
Albert Tufono, deputy director of the city Department of Parks and Recreation, said there has been a shortage of lei for Memorial Day in recent years.
While some schools are ending the school year earlier and can no longer help provide lei, Tufono said he recently got word that schools on Hawaii island and Kauai will be sending large amounts of lei.
"Schools on the Big Island like Waiakea High donate anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 every year and the Konawaena district has about 10,000 lei they are sending, but we still need more," he said.
For the second year in a row, the city is hosting an event at Honolulu Hale on Friday during which you can bring your lunch and sew lei using supplies that have been donated.
Tufono said anyone is welcome at Friday’s lunch event, but it is aimed at city and state workers in the surrounding areas to give them one last chance to participate. He hopes next year there will be other lei sewing events around the island to accommodate more people.