As we head into a holiday season where visions of sugar plums have been edged out by the specter of recession, layoffs and bankruptcy, keep in mind that the gift of inspiration sometimes arrives in small packages.

And so, when many small pieces of inspiration come together at once, it reminds us that all is not lost, and there is hope for a better Hawai'i, America and the world.

That's the encouraging conclusion of an effort started early last month when Dawn Kadota's third-grade students at Pearl Harbor Elementary School were discussing President-elect Barack Obama's Nov. 4 victory speech.

Obama asked everyone to "summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other," Kadota recalled.

And that's when student Anthony Toloumu, 8, asked the four-word question that kick started what would evolve into Hawai'i's Keiki Yes We Can! Project.

"What can we do?" Toloumu wanted to know.

That's when the discussion shifted into overdrive. It was decided that students could pledge to help make Hawai'i, America and the world a better place, each in his or her own small way.

Joshua Garcia, 8, for example, "pledged to not litter or do other bad things that could be harmful to the environment."

"I promised to be a responsible citizen of Hawai'i, America and the world by doing my homework and studying every day," said Leighton Antee, 8.

Those who long for added guidance need look no farther than the 3-by-5-foot blue and white banner posted on the red brick wall outside the school cafeteria:

"Be respectful, be responsible, be safe," it read.

The pledge concept was simple. Kadota's 21 students hand-printed their pledges on one side of 6-inch paper "gingerbread figure" cutouts. The students colored the opposite side with artwork of themselves. The cutouts ultimately would be connected into a large lei to be presented to the president-elect.

Meanwhile, others among the school's 600 students wanted to add their own pledges to the chain. Kadota e-mailed elementary schools across the state inviting students there to make pledges for the chain.

What began with a handful of third-graders at Pearl Harbor Elementary multiplied. Schools elsewhere on O'ahu joined in. Students from Neighbor Island schools sent in mounds of their own handcrafted cutouts.

Dozens of paper pledges became hundreds. Hundreds turned into thousands.

By yesterday, gingerbread pledges from students around the state totaled 3,300, and more were coming in.

"This just really blossomed," said Pearl Harbor principal Ellamarie Savidge as she opened a large envelope and withdrew about 100 more pledges.

"'I pledge to save the trees by using both sides of the paper before throwing it in the trash,'" read Savidge as she sorted through the colorful cutouts. "This one says, 'I will not pollute the ocean.' "

Laurie Baron, who operates Nohea Gallery at Ward Warehouse, was asked to assist in packaging the enormous lei in a way that could be presented to Obama.

Baron, who worked on the Obama campaign in Hawai'i, said she was aware that nothing goes to the president-elect that hasn't first been checked by White House security. So the lei would probably have to reach Obama via Washington, D.C., she said.

But neither she nor Kadota had any doubt that somehow the pledge lei would arrive at its intended destination.

"This is exactly in line with President-elect Obama's ideas," Baron said. "These kids are all doing exactly what we need to do, which is to look inside to see what we can do to help our country."

Boxloads of signed paper sentiments adorned a long table in a room just off the administration office yesterday. The statements were declarative: "I promise to run a mile everyday;" "I pledge to follow all the laws of America;" "I will remember to be a community contributor."

There were pledges to assist the needy, shelter the homeless, feed the hungry and, in one instance, "Help the people that has troubles like when they are fighting and swearing to each other."

Each message signaled a tiny slice of potential betterment for the worldwide community — if only the promise to "be good," as one child wrote.

And who could deny that this nation could be a better place if more folks would simply do as one boy promised and "pledge to drink 1% milk, have fun and eat right."