WINTER WONDERLAND CHRISTMAS PROGRAM REUNITES INCARCARCERATED MEN WITH THEIR CHILDREN
HONOLULU — Wearing a firefighter jacket costume, the 6-year-old son of inmate Sean Kim stepped out of a white shuttle van on a Sunday morning at the Waiawa Correctional Facility recreation field where holiday music filled the air.
Once he spotted his father approaching him a short distance away, the child screamed “Dad” in excitement and ran toward Kim who picked him up and hugged his son before Kim’s wife joined them in a family embrace.
The Waiawa Correctional Facility (WCF) hosted Winter Wonderland Keiki Day in collaboration with Keiki O Ka ʻĀina (KOKA) Family Learning Centers Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. Twenty-one fathers, 39 children and 23 caregivers participated in the event.
Under an open canopy tent, the facility set up festive inflatable holiday decorations and Christmas trees provided by KOKA where fathers, children and caregivers took family photos together.
For three hours, families enjoyed games and activities in the recreation field. Inside a large inflatable igloo tent, fathers and keiki decorated gingerbread cookies baked by facility staff. Children, with the help of their fathers, also decorated gingerbread houses donated by KOKA and its community partners.
Director Tommy Johnson of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation greeted fathers, children and caregivers at the event and thanked facility staff and KOKA for organizing the holiday gathering.
Events such as Keiki Day help strengthen the bonds between fathers and their children, Director Johnson said. “It helps them refocus on what’s important which is reunification with their families.”
Currently, WCF and the Women’s Community Correctional Center host special events for children and families. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is looking to expand the events to other facilities in Hawaiʻi.
KOKA Executive Director Momi Akana said Keiki Day is important for families as children are worried about their dads during the holiday season and dads are worried about their children and families. “This is an event where they can all get together and really see that everyone’s OK,” Akana said.
During Sunday’s event, families also enjoyed a barbecue lunch of hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, fruit, chips, cupcakes and cookies. Most of all, fathers and their keiki talked, hugged, sang and spent time with each other.
Children and youth also received large gift bags filled with presents donated by KOKA and its community partners. Families also received goodie bags.
The recreation field was filled with laughter and smiles during a water balloon fight before the gathering ended. Families then hugged and kissed each other one last time before entering white shuttle vans.
Please visit the following link for photos and videos of Sunday’s Winter Wonderland Keiki Day event: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1psopcQH6oxVuFibFn6Do8DK5HnY707lY.
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Media Contact:
Rosemarie Bernardo
Public Information Officer
Hawai‘i Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Office: 808-587-1358
Cell: 808-683-5507
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://dcr.hawaii.gov