My name is Michael Hutchinson. I help out with Mutual Aid Lāhui, a local nonprofit that’s all about taking care of our people and our ʻāina. But for me, it’s not just about big projects or meetings — it’s about the small, everyday ways we can show up for one another.

A few houses down from me, there’s an older man whose yard started to get overgrown. The grass was high, the leaves were piling up, and I could see it was getting harder for him to keep up. So one day I grabbed my gloves, rake, and trimmers, and I just went over to lend a hand.

At first, he didn’t seem too sure about it. Some folks have a hard time letting someone help — I get that. So I didn’t make it a big thing. I just started working. I cleared one small section at a time. I’d come back every few days — trim the hedges, rake the leaves, tidy the walkway.

Little by little, the yard started to come back to life. You could feel it — the space breathing again. Flowers began to bloom, the ground looked cared for. I could tell he appreciated it, even though we didn’t need to say anything. Sometimes, silence says more than words ever could.

That’s the kind of thing that matters to me. Aloha isn’t something you talk about — it’s something you live. It’s in showing up, the giving of time, the doing what’s needed without expecting anything in return.

Whether it’s through Mutual Aid Lāhui or right here in my neighborhood, it’s all the same to me. We take care of the people around us, we care for the ʻāina under our feet, and we do it with heart.

Because that’s what aloha really is — steady, quiet, and real.