Valley Isle supports Paris with mile of lei

In a show of support and solidarity with Paris in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks, an effort is underway to deliver lei weaved on Maui that altogether measure a mile long to memorial sites honoring victims of the Nov. 13 attacks.

Organizers boarded a flight to Paris with the lei Wednesday night. They’re scheduled to arrive this morning.

Nalu’s South Shore Grill, Hawaiian Paddle Sports and the Cynthia Rose Foundation launched the lei-making community endeavor Sunday. And volunteers quickly responded with truckloads of ti leaves, funding donations and their time. Examples of generosity range from one community member who donated 80 orchid lei, to a mother and daughter who flew to Maui from Kauai to deliver ti leaves and help with the weaving.

Volunteers started arriving at Nalu’s in Kihei at 8 a.m. Sunday to prepare and weave the lei. Approximately 150 volunteers put in long hours until they finished the lei sections at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

During the lei making, volunteers also contributed their good thoughts and “mana,” said Ron Panzo, who owns Lulu’s Lahaina Surf Club and Grill. “There’s a lot of love and sympathy for what everyone in Paris is going through.”

Sherrie Austin, president and founder of the Cynthia Rose Foundation, said, “The community has turned out in droves to help us.”

Austin established the foundation in April, naming it for her sister who died nearly 11 years ago. Through the nonprofit, Austin wants to perpetuate the spirit of her sister’s kindness.

The lei is divided into eight sections — each 20 feet long with 33 strands of ti leaf. Each will be wrapped with a purple orchid lei. Most will be placed at makeshift memorial sites where the attacks killed a total of 130 people — the Bataclan concert hall, Le Carillon cafe and bar, and Stade de France stadium.

Organizers also plan to deliver dozens of individual lei to injured attack victims recovering at hospitals.

In addition, Panzo said a Native Hawaiian delegation of young adults from Maui who are in Paris to participate in various international events will present lei made by the community to the people of Paris before world leaders at the United Nations’ Conference on Climate Change, which gets underway Monday.

Kailea Frederick of Kula is part of Maui’s five-member delegation that’s slated to take part in the conference. She said the delegation along with Panzo, Austin and the other lei-making volunteers aim to deliver a message of aloha to Paris and international leaders.

“It’s a large, collective send-out of aloha from the Hawaiian Islands to all the people who are going to be there — as a guiding force of protection,” Frederick said.