Editor’s Page: In A Time When We Can Easily Feel Disconnected, A Simple Question May Be All We Need To Be Reinspired To Reach Out

When you’re working and staying at home, the world seems to shrink to the boundaries of your living room and computer screen. Yet, in other ways, it seems to expand.

My relationships have grown. Reaching out to people to chat about their projects, experiences and passions is a big part of any HONOLULU Magazine writer’s job; it’s why we love what we do. For me, every call has become more personal. What used to be an innocuous small-talk start—“How are you doing?”—now usually leads into earnest conversations about our daily struggles, victories and moments of levity that lift us all out of what can be difficult days. And these days, it often ends with another simple heartfelt query, “How can I help?”

It’s a question that has become even more meaningful this year, when so many need a hand. And it’s a question that this year’s Ola Pono honorees have never taken lightly. We started the awards program to honor volunteers who often quietly work to keep our city moving. This year, the nominations submitted by you, our readers, included some old friends and some younger advocates. They gave us a chance to catch up with power-for-good couple Amanda Corby Noguchi and Mark Noguchi, who focus on connecting people to build communities. We talked and laughed with Nanci Kreidman, who moved to the Islands as a young woman with nothing but her bicycle and a camp trunk and devoted her life to becoming a voice for all victims of domestic violence. We had the opportunity to meet student Mahealani Sims-Tulba, who has spent almost half her life balancing classwork with her crusade to teach kids how kindness can change lives. We are inspired by their stories.

We encourage you to take action as well this month. In November, we will launch our second Give Big Hawai‘i campaign, where you can give to your choice of more than 200 local nonprofit organizations through a single website, givebighawaii.com. HONOLULU Magazine is so proud to highlight the voices and missions of so many of the groups that provide help, heart and hope to so many of us when we need it. And 501(c)(3) nonprofits can sign up online, through mid-November, to be part of our big day.

It sounds trite, but it is true: People are what truly make our Islands special. You can rediscover that with a quick trip. Start with our special section, “Holoholo Hawai‘i,” by our resident travel experts—resident because Catherine Toth Fox, Kevin Allen and the entire HAWAI‘I Magazine team sit just a few feet away from our desks in the office. They tell us what it’s like to jump into the saddle for a horseback ride to a Kaua‘i waterfall, introduce us to the longest-selling lei vendor at the Honolulu airport and round up books that will place the beauty of Hawai‘i on your coffee table when you’re staying inside.

Also in this issue, editor-at-large Robbie Dingeman dives into the illicit history of organized crime in Hawai‘i.

Photo: Karen DB Photography.

Writer Cynthia Wessendorf digs into the decadeslong struggle to find enough physicians, nurses, teachers and police officers for our neighborhoods. Senior fashion editor Stacey Makiya shows us how to set a stylish table for those small outdoor soirées, food and dining editor Martha Cheng gives us four decadent reasons to eat chocolate cake and managing editor Katrina Valcourt gives us the scoop on a local coffee expert’s new bean delivery service.

Because sometimes all we need to escape is a comforting dessert, a rich cup of coffee and some soul-satisfying conversation. Here’s to hoping you find all three this month.

Got a good story? Reach me at christiy@honolulumagazine.com

Read all of these stories in the November issue of HONOLULU Magazine. Available on newsstands in November, or purchase the issue at shop.honolulumagazine.com. Subscribe to the print and digital editions now.