HUGS Hawaii

I love waking up early on Saturday mornings for a good cause and one of my favorites is for HUGS (Help Understanding & Group Support). 

This morning, I spent my time volunteering at an annual luncheon for HUGS, which helps support seriously-ill children and their families. It's the third year that I have volunteered for HUGS and I am glad to be able to participate in such a wonderful event.

For the luncheon, there are games and prizes for the children. As a volunteer, I've helped with the games twice already and it's one of my favorite places to be since you can interact with the kids.

Playing Games w/ the Kids

There are certain children you always remember throughout the years and when you see them again, it makes you feel happy inside to know that they are doing okay. One of the children I saw today, I remembered seeing from the first time I volunteered for HUGS in 2008. He was such a sweet kid! But the following year, I didn't see him, so I had wondered if he would return this year. Sure enough, he was there and he was still the sweet kid I remember from the past. Lucky for him, he won two prizes today.

There are so many adorable children there and I was happy to see how much their eyes lit up when they won a prize or how much fun they had after playing a game.

I really loved this year's lunch items too. Besides the traditional hamburgers and hot dogs with chips, there were vegetables, fruits, and even a pasta salad.

There were also funnel cakes, french fries, and shave ice! I got the first shave ice since they needed someone to test it out before all the families arrived. It was really good, especially because of how hot it was outside.

Besides the food and the games, there were balloon animals from Balloon Monsoon.  I would highly recommend Balloon Monsoon!  They are great at making balloon animals.  Today, the two young men who made the balloon animals had some skills.  They could make monkeys, turtles, cats, guns, and more.  I was impressed.  The reason why I like Balloon Monsoon the best though is that the company kindly offered a discount for the event, which others would not even consider. 

At the end of the luncheon, the kids hunted for Easter eggs. There were also pinatas for the kids to hit. When the candy comes out of the pinata, the kids go crazy. It's funny to see children swarm candy like it's the most cherished prize in the world. At the same time, you are almost afraid that when they hit the pinata, that the candy might go flying (which it did) or that they might accidentally let go of the bat.

I had such a good time at HUGS. Afterward, I came home and crashed. I was so tired. The sun can really be draining! But, a couple hours later, I got back up to go to the next event of the day: Relay for Life.