Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor

It has become a trend lately to say that we are blessed on social media — you see #blessed on just about any post. It’s a nice concept, but it’s getting to the point where the trend is starting to curdle in on itself.

At least those were the cynical thoughts I had until I met up with BLSD Project Hawaii for its first-ever Feed The Streets outreach in Kakaako. This is a group of people that all say they feel pretty blessed — and they’re out there trying to pass that feeling along to others.

The thing that struck these volunteers the most that day was the strong sense of community that seems to exist among the individuals and families they were distributing food to. When they stopped at each tent, someone would tell them to make sure that their friend down the road also got some food.

So at the risk of sounding totally cliché — screw it, it’s officially Thanksgiving month — that’s enough to remind us all how blessed we are.

For more on BLSD’s outreach work, see Page 12.

There are all kinds of examples of what can be done when communities band together like that. For instance, Riana Stellburg discusses a phenomenal show she and others put together recently in this week’s reader-submitted essay (Page 4).

Over the years, Art + Flea has compiled a community of artists, designers and performers to create an impressive, varied monthly event. And now, the group is on its way to bigger things with its first retail location set to open later this month. And it’s all to help local entrepreneurs gain even greater exposure (Page 10).