Don’t throw away your trash just yet. On April 22, at Hale Tuahine in Mānoa Valley, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) groups HGN and FETCH held various activities and learning opportunities for the community in honor of Earth Day. 

Want to tell that special someone how much they mean to you AND support a worthy cause?n RSVP now and then head over to UH Campus Center Courtyard on Sunday, February 12, 10:30 a.m. to noon for a free ikebana flower arrangement workshop with CTAHR’s Home Garden Network (HGN).

Congratulations to Jessica Lau for being named a 2022 Truman Scholar! Jessica is a double major undergraduate in Human Development and Family Studies and psychology with double minors in peace studies and communicology. She was selected from a pool of more than 700 students from universities around the U.S for her dedication to public service, academic excellence, and outstanding leadership potential. In addition to national recognition, Jessica will receive $30,000 in funding for her graduate studies, as well as access to leadership training, internship opportunities, and a network of public service scholars. 

Thao is a professor in the Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) program and has been with CTAHR for more than 11 years. In that time, she has built a reputation for engaging, encouraging, and inspiring the students she comes in contact with. She has persuaded countless students to join HDFS and find their calling. Through their interactions with Thao, many students start to believe in their ability to achieve goals they might not have thought themselves capable of.  Beyond her duties as a professor and mentor, Thao has written two children’s books on social and emotional learning, freely distributed to teachers and heal/social service providers throughout the pandemic. Her coaching and guidance have paved the way for many of Hawaiʻi’s current educators and social workers. They are making a positive difference in the lives of our keiki and their families.  Many of these former students note that Thao was a significant factor in their success, and for this, we recognize her with the Ka Pouhana award!

Thao will be honored at the 2022 CTAHR 'Ohana Banquet.

For this past Thanksgiving, student interns Leah Ramos and Kalani Akau and their advisor, Sothy Eng, took the initiative to collect fruits from families' backyards and put them together in baskets, which they donated to Mental Health Kōkua, a local organization that serves adults striving for mental wellness. The Urban Garden Center’s Fruit Hui immediately came on board, generously donating its entire harvest of lemon, tangerine, orange, papaya, mango, and starfruit, estimated to be more than 100 pounds of fresh, nutritious, delicious items – and all hand-picked by UGC volunteers Linda, Susie, Glenn, Jessie, Karen, Kim, and others.

“These fruit baskets not only provide nutritional food for our community members, but also help toward promoting sustainable food systems as abundant foods are being sourced and shared with those who are struggling with food access,” says Sothy of the Human Development and Family Studies program in the Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences. “This food distribution is one of the elements within the food systems that connects between the home/community food systems with our community members who are suffering from social injustice of healthy food access."

Extension’s Kalani Matsumura adds, “The UGC volunteers normally donate these fruits to the Hawaiʻi Food Bank, as well as the CTAHR student food pantry, but today they are happy to support HDFS students’ Thanksgiving project to put together nice baskets for the needy. Thank you for the great work you're doing for families in Hawaiʻi!

Mental Health Kōkua serves adult individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses often causing the individual to feel alone and separated from reality, explains Les Gusman, County Director-Oahu.

“This random act of kindness that you are providing gives them hope,” he says. “We appreciate Brooke Fisher, an HDFS alumni and MHK former intern, who is now doing her Master's in Social Work at Columbia University, for her continuous effort connecting CTAHRʻs Home Garden Network program to our organization.”