If words fall short, Hawai'i lei say a lot
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By James Gonser
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i's aloha took center stage yesterday at the sites of death and destruction, with rescue workers and victims' relatives tossing lei into the pit where the Twin Towers once stood and family members of Hawai'i victims bringing lei to an open Pennsylvania field where an airliner smashed into the ground.
Associated Press
Former Hawai'i resident Elizabeth Cressman was not in New York during the attacks, but began the somber day by celebrating Mass at St. Peter's Church conducted by Cardinal Edward Egan and attended by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Hundreds of lei handed out in New York were later scattered at Ground Zero yesterday in tribute to the victims of terrorism. "Gifts of Aloha," organized by Hawai'i resident Tim Farley, sent 12,000 lei to New York.
After the service, she slowly walked toward her office near Ground Zero. Along the way, she began to notice several people who seemed to be from Hawai'i.
"I started seeing people wearing orchid lei," she said. "At first I thought they were family members that flew in that had lost someone. But I saw so many of them — and not that many people from the state of Hawai'i perished that day."
Cressman was told that hundreds of lei were being handed out in front of St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway in Lower Manhattan, which had been used by rescue workers as a place to rest after the attacks.
"I just wanted to say a 'thank you' to whoever did this project," Cressman said. "It was wonderful. I know what a lei means, and this is Hawai'i's way of sending a gift of aloha, of warmth. That lei means everything. It is given in times of joy and sadness. It really unites the country."
The person responsible was Hawai'i resident Tim Farley, who organized the "Gifts of Aloha" project, taking 12,000 purple-and-white orchid lei to New York City and passing out nearly half of them to victims' relatives and rescue workers yesterday.
A year ago, Farley thought he had lost family members in the attack on the World Trade Center, but they turned out to be safe. He said the agony he experienced motivated him to organize the Gifts of Aloha project, taking the lei along with T-shirts, gift baskets and pineapples to ease the pain of the survivors.
Farley, along with hula dancers and volunteers, also visited fire stations and family residences this week and passed out lei at each stop as well as at St. Paul's Chapel in an effort made possible by donations from many Hawai'i individuals and businesses.
As a testimonial to those they left behind, many of those survivors dropped their lei into the enormous pit at Ground Zero.
"We've really tried to represent the hearts of all the people of Hawai'i," Farley said. The relatives and rescue workers "know the meaning of the lei and wore them proudly and discarded them in the ring to say goodbye and aloha and as a tribute to their loved ones."
At the Pennsylvania crash site, family members of two Hawai'i women killed in the crash of hijacked United Flight 93— Christine Snyder and Georgine Corrigan — also brought lei. One even ended up around the neck of President Bush.
Snyder's father, Neal, said his two sons, Charles and Chad, attended the Pennsylvania ceremony armed with lei.
"The whole country has made it possible to get through this thing," Neal Snyder said. "Everybody has just been wonderful. It's good to see the whole nation lending its hearts, sorrows and sympathies to help one another get through this."
Gift of Aloha volunteer Mona Wood said the project team has had little sleep, but bringing joy to people in pain was worth the effort.
"It has been a lot of hard work, but it has been so fulfilling and we would do it again," Wood said. "These people have gone through unspeakable grief and yet the reaction is so warm to us. I am so glad we came. We ended up getting a lot more back then we gave."
Tax-deductible donations are still being accepted. To donate, call Del Gibbs at 486-0391 or Wendy White at 228-2745 or write to Gifts of Aloha Project, P.O. Box 1288, 'Aiea, HI 96701.
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
