Hawaii Residents Construct 49-foot Lei For Orlando Shooting Victims

The lei was presented as a symbol of admiration and respect.
From: NewNowNext

 A group of men and women from the Island of Maui, Hawaii gathered at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Wednesday afternoon with a special tribute to the 49 lives lost in the Pulse nightclub mass shooting—a 49-foot lei.

The “Lei of Aloha” was crafted by over 400 volunteers in Maui and then flown to Orlando, where it was presented by a group of Hawaiian representatives. The lei was a ti-leaf lei, a lei traditionally given at memorials as a symbol of admiration and respect. This particular one was constructed of twisted ti leaves, flowers and 49 small cowrie shells, each of which bore the name of one of the souls lost at Pulse.

After first presenting sections of the lei at Pulse nightclub and the Orlando Medical Regional Center, the representatives gathered at the Dr. Phillips Center to mourn the dead with a blessing ceremony in which they held hands and softly chanted a prayer of strength and guidance.

“Even though we’re an ocean away,” began one of the presenters, “we feel the pain, we feel the shock. We wanted to reach out…to remind people that there’s way more good people out there than there are bad.”