Letter to My Parents Contest winners honored in Honolulu

Winners with organizers of the Letter to My Parents Contest 2017 in Honolulu. CONTRIBUTED

HONOLULU — Ten winning contestants read their letters dedicated to their parents at the final presentation for the Letter to My Parents™ Contest on Saturday, November 18, 2017.

Of the ten winners, the Bravery Award was given to Cameron Johnson, the Reflection Award to Maile Chock, and the Proposal Award to Shirley Chan. Besides the $50 gift certificate given to each of the ten winners, each of the three also received $500.

For this year’s fifth anniversary contest, a total of 261 letters from 17 different schools were submitted.

The contest was organized by the Kalamansi Books and Things, Filipino Association of University Women (FAUW), and  Reiyukai America.

The Organizing Committee invited ten contestants as this year’s winners: Rea Mei Acosta, Sofia Benachour, Shirley Chan, Maile Chock, Cameron Johnson, Shayna Park, Ferryle Paguirigan, Adrianna Pascual, Michael Puni, and Olivia Tueller-to present their letters to their parents, families, the general audience and the judges at the Hawaii State Library in Honolulu, O’ahu.

After the letters were read, the ten winners received a $50 gift certificate and a Certificate of Participation. Each of the contestants will be also receiving a “1 Year TestPrep Course Subscription” courtesy of BenchPrep.

The judges were James Rumford (writer and illustrator), Deloris Guttman (founder and president, African American Diversity Cultural Center Hawaii), and Allan Alvarez (KPHI 96.7FM / 1130AM).

“Promoting close family ties and strengthening the family as the basic institutional unit are among the cultural and social values espoused by FAUW.  FAUW is a proud partner and sponsor of the annual contest,” stated Rhoda Yabes-Alvarez, President of Filipino Association of University Women.

Rose Churma from Kalamansi Books and Things commented, “We are honored to be part of this program that enables Hawaii’s youth to share their stories and realize the power of the written word.”

Noriko Sotta, chair of the Reiyukai America National Committee noted, “We are delighted to see this project is growing every year! We are convinced that this contest brings an opportunity to the families to have a better communication. When the family is stronger, the community becomes stronger – and that is what Reiyukai America looking for.”

The event was sponsored by BenchPrep, Read 2gether Foundation, Hawaii Public Library, and Norman Sales. The community supporters were Sariling Gawa Youth Council, Inc., and Ishihara Enterprises, Inc.