Kōkua - to help without personal gain or agenda
Over the past few years, my two young sons and I were listening to some old comedy from the late 70’s and early 80’s. They weren’t monologues from the classic greats like Richard Prior, George Carlin, Redd Foxx, Eddie Murphy or Rodney Dangerfield. As a young boy, I myself would listen to the same exact skits and found myself captivated and enamored with the celebration of cultural differences and similarities. Ironically, this comedy has deep roots that could only be found in the most isolated population center in the world. These roots, embedded in volcanic flows and rich soil, made Hawaii’s, James Kawika Piʻimauna "Rap" Reiplinger is what he was and brought it all together. “Rap” would play a multitude of characters of both male and female genders, and origins. Often times these roles were played in the same skit, simultaneously with the help of audio and rudimentary video editing like split screen like in the forever classic “Room Service”.
Ok, I’m getting to the “Kōkua” part…
As a kid, one of the most entertaining skits that had me smoothing out the grooves in the vinyl was a very unsuspecting track titled “Lolo Telethon”. A simple phrase mentioned in the skit, “maybe with your kokua…”, always resonated in my mind. Not knowing what it meant, I asked my father, who in the late 1960’s, lived in Hawaii after high school and worked at the old Colony Surf hotel as a valet, at a restaurant/bar named Beef‘n’Grogg washing dishes, bussing, waiting, and tending bar, and many other jobs to get by. Along the way, he met several good people who became close family friends. I learned kōkua means to help without personal gain or agenda. I also learned through life experience what kōkua feels like on the giving and receiving end.
About a month ago the word popped into my head so I pondered a bit…then it hit. The ESTERO mission statement summed up…and then some. “Having fun and giving back”. You see, all funds go to these five places: donations to local non-profits, donations to schools fundraising & local benevolent groups, inventory restock, expenses:”free shipping”, packaging and supplies, shipping overages, monthly/annual fees i.e. Adobe Lightroom & Cloud account, Google Workspace & Domain accounts, Squarespace account, and other misc. items. Not one dime goes to pay a salary, or person (including myself) other than artists for graphic work. In fact, most of my artist contributors request to donate the funds forward.
So really, here it is,,,,what all the rambling’s are for. What an opportunity to exercise “Kōkua” and make some hats and shirts where 100% of the profits go to the Maui wildfire victims.
We hope you can appreciate the graphic as a lot of thought, heart and soul went into this project. PNW friend, and multi-talented being, Troy Nebeker , created the mock-up inspired from the Maui’s Lokelani flower (pink Damask Rose), Hawaiian Kingdom Flag and of course, “KŌKUA” in bold. It should be noted that Troy has donated his time, expertise, and craft to make this happen. -Teddy B
Pre-orders are happening now! Here’s a mock-up of the long sleeve and hat.
