Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday in the islands. With commercial interests at bay compared with other holidays, Thanksgiving is about the attitude of gratitude and a celebration of community, family and friends. For thirteen years now my son and I have gone up to the KEY Project in Kualoa-Heeia to build a giant imu the day before Thanksgiving. We get up early on Thanksgiving day, pull the turkeys out and bring our offerings home to Mom.
For twenty-six years the KEY Project has been bringing people together to connect with one another and with traditions of the ancestors. A truckload of kiawe is brought over to make fierce fire that heats the stones. Once they are red-hot, we pull out the unburned wood, level the stones and lay in stacks of banana stalks followed by banana leaves. We then lift in more than 400 tinfoil-wrapped turkeys, then more banana leaves and sometimes ti leaves. Next comes a layer of water-soaked burlap sacks, wet canvas sheets and finally plastic tarps. Around the edge of the tarps we place sandbags to make the imu airtight. The turkeys cook in the aromatic steam through the night.
The proceeds from the imu tickets go to Randy Kalahiki Higher Education Incentive Grants, which is administered by the KEY Project. The fund is named to honor a tireless community leader and one of KEY’s prominent founders. While never given the opportunity to go beyond high school, Randy always worked to help others to achieve their dreams of a college education, knowing this would also make the community stronger.
The mission of the KEY Project is to "nurture and promote the cultural, environmental, social, economic and recreational well-being of the Kualoa-He‘eia area by providing a vital grass-roots civic resource that effectively serves the needs of a diverse multicultural community." All are welcome.
Casey Maloney, who helped out this year, is a senior at Castle High School. She recently learned of the scholarship fund and plans to apply. "I am interested in a career that enables me to help the people of my community. I have submitted my college applications with the goal of getting into a good pre-med program. Eventually, I hope to become a surgeon."
Recently the KEY Project has begun to offer "Stress Free" turkeys that can be ordered online. All you have to do is pick them up.
For more information on the KEY Project, its activities and to get in on the imu, see keyproject.org or call 239-5777.
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Ira Zunin, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., is medical director of Manakai o Malama Integrative Healthcare Group and Rehabilitation Center and CEO of Global Advisory Services Inc. Please submit your questions to info@manakaiomalama.com.
