Jeffrey “Rusty” Kent and Minako Ishii-Kent are quite the couple. She’s
a photographer and he’s an author. Through their personal passions, they’ve
found a niche to help underprivileged children in Leeward O‘ahu through the
Kids’ Pics program.
For the past year, Kent and Ishii-Kent have volunteered in Wai‘anae where
they offer photography classes at the Maili Land Transitional Housing Program, which
provides housing assistance for families. “We teach them basic photography
techniques, like perspective and lighting,” says Kent.
The classes aren’t just about teaching children, but about changing lives.
“We met in grad school,” says Kent. “Minako’s grad thesis
was on how kids communicate visually. From there, she wanted to teach kids photography.”
This became a vision to reach out to Hawai‘i’s disadvantaged children,
fueled in part by Ishii-Kent’s experiences seeing street kids while living
in Miami. “It’s worth it if you can just affect one or two children,”
Kent says.
The couple is set to affect far more than just one or two children. They are developing
a college scholarship program for the students. Called the Lei Fund, proceeds from
the sale of the children’s photography will support the scholarship’s
endowment.
“Another meaning for the word ‘lei’ is ‘the favored child,’”
says Kent. “Our scholarship’s name isn’t necessarily referring
to a flower garland, but to the idea that all of these kids should be the favored
children of the community.”
To view the children’s photography and learn more about the scholarship, visit
leifund.org.