By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

Kelly Happ almost can't believe that an idea she first spoke of only six months ago is now real and finished and being sold at Costco. But the whole thing seemed to take on a life of its own.

"It was very, very happenstance, like everything in life, right?" Happ says. "You're kind of meant to be in a certain place when you are."

It started with a chance meeting a few years ago, just after her husband and their infant twin daughters moved to Hawai'i from Houston.

At the theater one night, Happ ended up seated next to the executive director of Adoption Connection, a subsidiary program of the nonprofit group Friends of Foster Kids. The two got to talking and the woman asked Happ if she'd like to volunteer. Pretty soon, Happ found herself a member of the board.

Friends of Foster Kids started out 12 years ago as a partnership between the Rotary Club of Honolulu and the state Department of Human Services to improve the number and quality of foster homes in Hawai'i. Over the years, Friends of Foster Kids has stepped in to help where the state just couldn't afford it. The organization has helped pay for everything from orthodontics to music lessons to a prom dress for foster kids.

Friends of Foster Kids helps recruit and support adoptive families, and provides tutoring for foster kids and mentoring for new foster families. There's even a program where volunteers arrange special get-togethers for siblings who have been placed in separate foster homes and may not have a chance to see each other otherwise.

Amy Tsark, administrator of the Child Welfare Services branch of the Department of Human Services, says the Friends of Foster Kids volunteers are "more than angels."

"Any given year we have over 4,000 children who come through foster care. And the numbers are increasing," says Tsark.

These are kids who have been removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect. They are kids in need of Friends.

Happ's inspiration for a project came from a favorite CD she came upon when her girls were born. It was a collection of children's songs done by popular artists and sold as a fund-raiser for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Happ thought a similar project featuring local recording artists would be a natural fit for Friends of Foster Kids. She mentioned her idea to another board member, who happened to work with a woman who used to work with The Mountain Apple Company, home base to much of Hawai'i's finest recording talent.

"She offered to make a few phone calls and literally that same day, she sent me a note saying such-and-such will manufacture it, we've already talked to this person and he's happy to engineer it. ... She just did all that in a few hours. I was so shocked. I really wasn't ready for the project to take shape yet. It was just an idea. But the project was really like that from the beginning, which made me feel like it was really meant to be."

Most of the songs on the CD, called "Hawai'i Sings for the Children," were previously recorded, like Robert Cazimero's version of "Rainbow Connection." Out of the 17 songs in the collection, there are four originals.

In May of this year, Happ sent out requests to about 30 recording artists. "By July first," says Happ, " I had the CD completely maxed out. I couldn't take any more songs. Many of them said, 'If it's for kids, anything for kids. I'd be happy to do it.' "

The CD features songs from Henry Kapono, Na Leo, John Keawe, Brother Noland and more.

Friends of Foster Kids didn't have to raise a dime to make the CD. Happ says Bookline Distributors graciously offered to front the money for the project. All profits from the sale of "Hawai'i Sings for the Children" will go to support programs for foster kids. The CD is available in the usual places CDs are sold. And there's talk about a follow-up project.

"They keep talking to me about doing a Volume 2 and I say, 'Gosh, I don't know if I have the energy to do it,' " says Happ. "But we already have six artists lined up to do another one. And that's heartwarming."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.