Kiora! MMS Benefit Event with Darren Benitez

MMS News Release

The Hawaiian Language Immersion program at Molokai Middle School, `O Hina i ka Malama, is having a benefit concert and dinner on Friday, Nov. 7 at the Molokai Community Health Center (Old Pau Hana Inn) at 5 p.m., under the banyan tree.  Dinner tickets are $50 per person and our VIP tables are $1000.  We have a great lineup of entertainment starring our own Middle Schools students of `O Hina i ka Malama, Na Pua Ho`oheno, and guest artist Darren Benitez and friends.

Darren Benitez. Photo courtesy of Molokai Middle School.

Proceeds of the benefit concert and dinner, along with a silent auction that night will support our students to travel to Aotearoa, New Zealand.  The purpose of their travel is to make actionable the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage’s promise to the children to gain leadership opportunities and skills.  The objective of travel is to provide out-of-school context for students to apply Hawaiian language in formal and informal settings. Throughout this experience, students will have the opportunity to apply knowledge of Maori and Hawaiian customs and practices in authentic settings.  Students will tour land and ocean-based educational, cultural, and business initiatives and will be exposed to STEM and college-career awareness and readiness with an emphasis in technology related to Malama Honua.

Our featured entertainer, Darren Benitez, grew up surrounded by music, and we are grateful because of his ambition of keeping traditional Hawaiian music alive.

In his earliest years, he loved the sound of his mother and uncle’s voices. Growing up listening to Dennis Pavao, Ledward and Nedward Ka`apana – better known as the “Hui O Hana” – he assumed that this was the way that true Hawaiian music should sound. His first solo release Broken Hearts by Fat Katz Production was dedicated to his mom because of all her love and compassion.  Darren’s second release of Dear Mama was a tribute to his mom thanking her for the gift of music, and for giving him a solid foundation in music and for constant support.

He can excite you to move with the beat – Hawaiian, County or Kachi kachi.  This third release Mother of the Sea, contains more of what made him popular in the first place — lots of crisp ukulele, lots of casual falsetto singing, and a little bit of straightforward country music.

Come and enjoy the music, for more information regarding our benefit concert and dinner, please contact `Iolani Ku`oha at (808)298-9686 or email at peepuhala@hotmail.com.  If you would like to just support our travel, check out our online donation page at gofund.me/bkr118, titled Malama Honua Youth Leadership Marae.