Ka Hale A Ke Ola

“Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness:

The founding family of TKO has always lived with the Spirit of Aloha in their hearts, but on Jan. 18, 2012 they found a place of love nestled on the back roads of Wailuku, Maui.

Ka Hale A Ke Ola is a homeless resource center for families that provides necessities that families need to get back on their feet.  The shelter provides housing for the lucky few who get in and for those waiting they offer resources to help their children.  When a family needs to interview for a job, the staff provides free child care, counseling and educational skills to assist the parents in obtaining and keeping a job.  TKO was not allowed to take photos of the children as some of them were in hiding from abusive parents and relationships.

The children were loving and sweet and were playing in the playground as we toured the center.  Tiffany Somera, the Director of Children Services said that they are in need of everything from diapers to educational toys.  The children range in age from 6 weeks old to teenagers.  You can also donate your time and special skills to the teenagers.  We plan on offering a Kids Finance Lesson on our next trip by the kids finance coach.  www.kidsfinancecoach.com

If you want more information:

Contact:

Ka Hale A Ke Ola

808 986-8281

Once again we find that even in the most beautiful places in the world, there are kids in need.

TKO volunteers asking LA Kings Fans to donate to Camp TKO and Kings Care

TKO helping hands recently had 40 volunteers at the Staples Center. Their mission was to collect donations for kids from military families to attend summer camp.

The LA Kings and the Kings Care Program has teamed up with Turn Kindness On for three games during the season.  Jan. 7, Feb. 25 and March 17th.  Each of these games they will have TKO volunteers throughout the Staples Center asking for you to donate loose change that your children may find around your home or simply drop a bill or two.

They are also selling $5 raffle tickets for a great prize.  On January 7th, the Raffle tickets were sold and $2450 dollars was raised during that afternoon.

The Winner received 2 glass seats, row 1 for the January 12th game.

The Winner drawn:  Tim Raboin

Congratulations Tim, We will look for you on the glass at the next LA Kings game.

For more info or raffle tickets for our next drawing call: 818 264-4981

Using her home as a free day care center, Nuannoi Timkul (Khru Noi) hopes to save poor kids from drowning in a sea of poverty and illiteracy.

TKO (Keanu and Tristen Ellen) visited the Rat Burana slum of Thailand and found a 54 year old woman who has been caring for slum children for the past 17 years.  After a spinal operation, Khru Noi was paralyzed from the waist down.  All of her savings had been depleted and her husband, a factory worker and herself were near penniless.  While her husband went to work, Khru Noi who was dealing with her own depression saw children in her neighborhood who were wandering around the town, often stealing fruit from neighbors gardens to eat.  Unlike others who condemned the children, Khru Noi took them into her home and shared stories of life as well as the fruits from her home. According to Khru Noi, the parents of the slum children are mostly poor farmers who work as unskilled labor in the  Rat Burana area.  Khru Noi, who has a junior high education started to teach the children to read and write.  Her husband earned 70 baht a day (approximately $2.10) and gave her 20 baht (60 cents) which she used for noodles to feed the children.  Khru Noi sold her belongings and took odd jobs to earn extra money to buy books and a blackboard.  Within a few years she had over 60 children.  She tried charging the parents but the parents would then just make their children not go to Khru Noi and it left them wandering the streets so she stopped charging the parents.  She has helped a few of the children graduate from school and as we watched her limp and drag her paralyzed leg across the room, we could see a true love for her children through her eyes.  An amazingly inspiring woman, Khru Noi  touched the hearts of our TKO family.

Once a woman who was sad and depressed about her own life.  She has now taken it upon herself to help others.  Today her kindness has helped her to find a passion to care and teach children in need.

We carried bags of  dehydrated foods donated by Alpine aire foods and Natural high foods.  We also packed soccer balls and toys donated by the employees of American financial network from their Holiday party.  www.afn-net.com If you want to help Khru Noi, please let us know and we can send your donation to her or let you know how to reach her.  She is in need of financial assistance and from what we saw, she truly spends every cent on the children.  The very small, cluttered home had many children coming through during our 3 hours there.  We purchased pizzas and drinks and handed out many smiles to these very thankful children.

Thank you,

Team TKO

The Ellen family

Brett, Mandy, Keanu and Tristen Ellen

TKO visits the slums of Thailand

Our recent trip to Bangkok, Thailand once again proved very rewarding.  It showed us how easy it is to reach out to those in need. We asked the locals upon our arrival to our hotel if there was an orphanage that we could visit.  We stopped by a local market and purchased some diapers, wipes, food and drinks.  We called ahead of time to ask if we could bring some items.

We were welcomed by the staff and we were asked to watch a video about their services.  The Baan Fuengfa center cares for 440 children from ages 2-13 years old. These children were all mentally or physically disabled.  Their families were not able to care for them so they were placed to live at this full time residence.

TKO was touched by the sweetness of the children.  We had the opportunity to sit with them during their lunch time.  The Baan Fuengfa center is government funded and also takes private donations at the Krung Thai Bank Public Company Ltd.  Pakkred Branch account No. 123-1-18770-0  Their telephone number is 02 5836815 and their website is www.fuengfah.com

They appreciate any help that they receive as the assistance they receive from the government does not cover their expenses for their children.  If you are planning a trip to Thailand, they welcome visitors and as one volunteer told us while we were there.  ”We can always use simple things like diapers and wipes as we often run out of them and the babies must sit in dirty diapers”.  This was the first orphanage we visited on our trip.  We spent time with many children who were missing limbs and had other physical deformities.

They children as well as the staff were all very appreciative of our time.  We hope that our visit will bring more visitors to their center to assist them in their everyday living.

Thank you,

Team TKO

Mandy Ellen

Lunch and ice cream with the children of Baan Fuengfa disabled babies centerTKO founder Tristen Ellen and child from Baan Fuengfa disabled children's ctr.

On Dec. 10th, over 60 stockings filled with toys and treats we’re handed out to the children of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. TKO volunteers ranged in age from 5-55 and the heart warming afternoon began with smiles from children in their wheelchairs and ended with the volunteers knowing that they had made a difference in a child’s life. Little Lucas has muscular dystrophy and remembered that TKO brought him a fire truck last year. Our new friend Sarah gave us high fives and shared a beaming smile as she had our TKO volunteers talking with her. Life is a blessing and as we continue with our daily routines we must not forget how simple it is to touch the life of another. It only takes a moment and the rewards will last a lifetime.

TKO Volunteer Crystal Parra shares her first time story as she helped kids pack and give lunches to the homeless of Santa Monica…

“I am a volunteer at TKO.  I spend a few hours a week donating my time because I know that I can make a difference.  This weekend was my first time feeding the homeless with TKO in Santa Monica.  It was not only a rewarding and heart warming experience but I learned a lot about people.  I worked alongside children who may have come out for their community service hours but ended up with such excitement in their hearts that they really connected with what they were doing.  At first, reaching out your hand to a person who is living on the streets may be a bit scary.  TKO founder Brett Ellen explained that though we always needed to be careful we should remember that each person has a story and a past.  We were not only handing out sandwiches, fruit, cold drinks and sweets but we were treating each person with respect and dignity.

The children found themselves being thanked for the fresh baked cookies they were handing out. There was a young volunteer named Cole that seemed to really be excited about his act of kindness.  It sparked something in him that was always there but simply needed to find a way to be expressed.  A desire to continue doing his part to change people’s lives.  Hearing his excitement and passion was truly as rewarding to me as the act of feeding the homeless was.  I’m now officially hooked and can’t wait for the next TKO outing.”

Written by: Crystal Parra

Title: Holidays “Cheers for Charity” Mixer
Location: Drai’s Hollywood – 6250 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028
Link out: Click here
Description: This HOliday Season TKO Helping Hands is assisting Peruvian Hearts to bring assistance to children in need in Peru. Together we will raise more money for TKO Helping Hands and Peruvian Hearts than we ever could alone!

Want to help?

Support by making a donation to our page here. The process is fast, easy, and secure… and you can be sure that it will benefit a great cause and go a long way!

Attend our event Wednesday December 7th for an evening of holiday themed fun with a photo booth, traditional Peruvian psico sours, amazing auction items, raffle prizes and of course quality guests and networking.

Please RSVP and although there is no ticket cost we appreciate everyone’s donation to help support TKO and Peruvian Hearts orphanage this Holiday season.
Start Time: 20:00
Date: 2011-12-07
End Time: 22:00

As a Thanksgiving gesture TKO Helping Hands (.org) purchased 10 volunteer spots for Dream Dinners in Granada Hills, California.  Dream Dinners is a wonderful business where meals are pre-made with raw ingredients and packed with all the recipes necessary to provide healthy and delicious meals for a family.  The process saves people money on their groceries and time in their day.  Each meal takes only about 20 minutes to prepare once you get home and the TKO volunteers made over 65 meals in less than 1 hour. It was  a fun event to do as a group.

We started by tasting the fabulous meal options and proceeded to prepare the meals that we would donate to two deserving families.  One is a paraplegic man who was in a car accident in his twenties. He is cared for by his loving sister Lydia (TKO member) and her family.  The other is a TKO member Blanca who has been going through Kidney Dialysis for the past 5 years and constantly takes in people in need even when she can barely get her own meals on the dinner table.  Both families were surprised with the meals as Keanu and Tristen announced where the meals would be going.  They accepted them teary eyed and very appreciative.

It was a nice way of TKO reaching out to its own family of volunteers who continually give back to their community.  Great job to the young boys, girls and adults who took time out of their day to help those in need.  Sometimes those in need are even closer than we think.  Thanks Dream Dinners, we will be seeing you again.

Title: MDA Holiday Party
Location: Muscular Dystrophy Association, Inc. – North Hollywood, CA
Description: St. Charles Church Hall
10828 Moorpark Street
North Hollywood, CA 91602
Start Time: 12:00
Date: 2011-12-10
End Time: 15:00

Title: Stocking Stuffing
Location: Ellen Residence
Description: Call to reserve your spot!

818.264.4981
Start Time: 17:00
Date: 2011-12-04