ASAO News

March's Grab and Go was filled with goods from the Coalition to Stop Campus Hunger, SAPFB, Aloha Harvest, exotic fruits from the Urban Garden Center, and eggplants from GoFarm Hawaii.  Join us for our final Grab and Go for the year on Thursday, April 28th from 12:30-2:30 PM at the Gilmore Hall Courtyard.  Students, please register to reserve your spot!

March's Cooking Show celebrated National Nutrition Month with healthy recipes of Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers, Smashed Chickpea Salad, and Peanut Butter Banana Bonbons.  Take a tour of Latin dishes in our final cooking show for the year on Friday, April 29th at 5 PM on Zoom.  We'll be preparing Pao de Queijo (Brazillian Cheese Bread), Mushroom Tortilla Soup, and Dulce de Leche Crepes.  Limited cooking kits are available CTAHR students.  CTAHR Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and Friends are welcome to register!

The Hawaiʻi Foodbank has kicked off its Annual State Employees Food Drive and will be running through May 13, 2022.  Last year, CTAHR collected $2,623.34 in monetary donations and 7,413 pounds of food!  Our goal for 2022 is to collect $3,000 in monetary donations and 7,500 pounds of food!

To get our CTAHR Departments in the mood of giving, we have turned the Foodbank Drive into a CTAHR competition where all CTAHR departments (located on Oahu) will be splitting into 12 teams (see table below). At the end of the event, we will award two team winners 1) Highest Monetary Donations and 2) Highest Pounds of Food Donations.  Winners will receive a CTAHR swag basket filled with yummy treats and Beer Lab Beer!  If you already have monthly deductions set up with the Hawaii FoodBank, please let us know so that we can ask that the monetary donations get credited to CTAHR for March 14 to May 9, 2022).  If you would like to donate online, please email us a screenshot of your donation so that we can credit your team.

On Monday, February 21st, we held another fun filled CTAHR Alumni / Student Mixer online. Twenty-four students and alumni joined in, with two tuning in from California! Participants enjoyed lively discussion in breakout rooms for considering Grad School, getting jobs, #adulting and landing internships.

On Saturday, January 22nd, Hawaii Botanical Society and the CTAHR Alumni Association & Friends partnered with the Movers and Shakers program to help clean a section of the Ka Iwi coastline on the East side of Oahu. With direction from Rebecca Barone, President of the Hawaii Botanical Society, additional CTAHR-ians, and about 50 volunteers, carefully picked their way through native plants and bee habitats to remove invasive grasses, weeds, fallen debris and branches, and plastics found along the shore. Movers and Shakas runs place-based immersion programs designed to attract, integrate and retain key talent, especially returning kamaʻāina, to learn, contribute and connect in Hawaiʻi.  The coastline clean-up  activity helped to teach many new comers to the islands about the importance of respecting the land and all of it’s inhabitants.  Participants commented that they felt a sense of accomplishment at seeing the difference made in the area following removal of the unwanted material.  They also said that they were looking at the sand with new eyes, now noticing the small pieces of plastic that litter the beach and are so destructive to marine life.  One volunteer said she would never be able to just stroll the beach anymore without bending to pick up the trash she passes. 

CTAHR ASAO welcomed students back with our January Grab & Go.  Students were invited to shop for fresh produce and pantry items.  Over 300 pounds of food items were generously donated by the Coalition to Stop Campus Hunger (187.9 lbs.), the Urban Garden Center's Fruit Hui (105.1 lbs), GoFarm Hawaii (54 lbs), and the Student Activity & Program Fee Board.  Mahalo to everyone for their support!  Our next Grab & Go will be on Thursday, Feburary 11 from 12:30-2:30 PM.  Students, don't forget to register!