Itʻs hip. Itʻs cool and ProjectFocus was a part of it. Formu-la – http://www.formu-la.com/ a catalogue of interesting stories of people, places and things that surround us – launched its official entrée into the blog world with a soire on January 30 at Manifest in downtown Honolulu. PFH exhibited several of this yearʻs photographs along with those who were part of the “Mundane is Beautiful” photo competition sponsored by Formu-la. Lisa was one of the photo judges. Here is one of our 2009 participants, Dezandria, and her photo subject – her mom – at the Formu-la Launch Party.

We were fortunate to be invited to sit down and meet with Mayor Hannemann. He is an amazing supporter for our project. Just last month he won the award for the National Award for Local Arts. Congratulations Mayor! Very well deserved. Here are some images taken that morning.

On Sunday, Andrew Tran of Moanalua High School interviewed Jane for a class project that will be aired in October on both `Olelo and throughout his school community. The short documentary is about ProjectFocus Hawaii and the ways in which projects like these can help at-risk youth. Jane, a former Moanalua High School student, talks about the challenges she faced growing up as a foster child.

Thanks to Macy's Visual Merchandising team for their assistance with our most recent installation at Kahala Mall.

Well we did it. Opening night was an amazing success!

The Recap: The kids got there nice and early, eager to start. Mary Scott Lau took them into the “Green Room” where they got last minute instructions and did more media training practice. Here is Devron perfecting his handshake.

Devron is now ready to meet the crowd.

The kids looked and felt confident in their new clothes. They got into position, next to their photographs.


Isaiah and his cousin Joshlyn

Dezandria and her mother

Sean Tiwanak and his crew entertained the crowd all night.

It got crowded really quick. At the height of the event, it was 300 strong. The kids were poised and super all night long.

Jane talking to many, many guests.

KHNL talking to Laurie.

Wally Amos kicked off the program with a message of positive thinking.














What a wonderful event–a night we won’t soon forget. We would like to thank everyone for their support and love throughout. Stay tuned for the gallery of images as well as lots of candids from the event. Thank you also to Steve (Sunny Productions), Kate Ryan and Geralyn (Hokulii Images) for photographing the event.