West Maui Family Receives Early Holiday Cheer

A Keiki’s Dream, courtesy photo.

By Wendy Osher

A Keiki’s Dream teamed up with The Fairmont Kea Lani this year to Make a Dream Come True for a Maui Family in Need this holiday season.

The Sulunga-Kahaialii ΄ohana of Napili was chosen to participate in an early holiday celebration and a dream day to remember.

The family’s 11-year-old Sina, who is in need of a life-saving kidney transplant, has been under close medical care since April, 2012.

She will be separated this holiday season when when she undergoes kidney transplant surgery at Stanford University Medical Center on the mainland.

The family of six has experienced a challenging year with the unanticipated medical expenses and a household of three active boys: Danny, Chris, and David.

A Keiki’s Dream, a Maui-based program that makes dreams come true for the neediest children in the community, teamed up last weekend with The Fairmont Kea Lani to create an early holiday celebration for the Sulunga-Kahaialii family.

[flashvideo file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZECn3ChiSE /] On December 1st, Danny, Chris, David and Sina had a dream day to remember, as each were presented with $200 gift cards from A Keiki’s Dream for a shopping spree. The family then rode in a Chevy Escalade to The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui where they were escorted to their private three-bedroom villa on Polo Beach, which included holiday decorations and gifts under the tree. A private chef was also on hand to prepare a special Christmas Dinner, enjoyed at their poolside cabana over the weekend. On Sunday, the children continued the celebration with a pizza and ice cream party.

“We wanted to provide the Sulunga-Kahaialii family with a special holiday celebration and allow all of the children to have some fun together. The day’s activities were chosen directly by Danny, Chris, and David,” said Darby Gill, founder of A Keiki’s Dream.

Save Our Sina. Photo of a photo by Wendy Osher.

“The Fairmont Kea Lani is very proud to support A Keiki’s Dream” said General Manager, Charles Head. “We hope our part helped bring a little more cheer to the Sulunga-Kahaialii family this holiday season.”

A Keiki’s Dream gives a “dream come true” to children of Maui County who are facing a crisis situations that could include abuse, neglect, homelessness, catastrophic medical problems, major loss, or psychological concerns. The program supports these children with hope and encouragement at a critical time in their life.

To date, A Keiki’s Dream has created over 1,400 dreams for Maui children, an average of 75 per year.