Yes, You Can, Emilia!

By Léo Azambuja

Emilia Knudsen

With the right mindset, a willingness to adapt and a huge heart, a young girl — not even a teenager yet — has shown the Kaua‘i community that anything is possible, even during a pandemic that has destroyed economies and taken many lives across the globe.

When Emilia Knudsen’s long-term plans to visit the other half of her family in Europe got crushed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 11-year-old Kapa‘a girl shifted her focus to help those in need by distributing free food. During the last nine months, she spearheaded and managed a fundraising effort that collected tons of food and raised more than $20,000 for her cause.

Then for Christmas, Emilia won a grant that allowed her to buy gifts for 80 children on the island — and those weren’t random gifts; each one was written down on a Christmas gift list.

“She has always been like that. Even when she was little, she would take out her food and give it to some old people on the street. I’d ask what happened with her dinner, and she’d say, ‘Oh, I gave it to auntie,’” said Kamala Knudsen, Emilia’s mother.

Emilia was born on Kaua‘i, but her mother came from Denmark. As a preschooler, Emilia already had set a clear goal — to visit her mother’s family still in Europe.

“Since I was four, I’ve wanted to go to Denmark. I said when I turn 12, I’m going to Denmark, because my birthday is Jan. 12, it would be my golden birthday,” Emilia said. “I’m 11, and my birthday is in a month. And now I can’t go to Denmark.”

Emilia had been fundraising to go to Denmark since she was five years old. At that age, she started taking fire-dancing classes, and was almost immediately performing at art walks and night markets across the island. At that age, she was already earning as much as $100 a night to go into her Denmark-trip piggie bank. Then she sold avocados from her backyard tree, which also earned her a pretty penny.

A couple years ago, Emilia’s former school started a program for the kids to pick a theme and do a project. It could be anything, she said, yoga, electronics, building, etc.

“I chose business. And with the kids that chose business with me, we made keiki dough which is play dough,” she said. “Then we started selling it at The Kaua‘i Store.”

With half of the money earned, Emilia and her project buddies threw a pizza party for her classmates. The other half of the money went to the school’s fundraising projects.

Emilia’s teacher eventually announced she was leaving the island, meaning the project — at that time a budding business — would come to an end. But the young girl asked if she could continue the business, and her teacher promptly agreed, elated that the project that started in her class would keep on going.

“Then I took over the business,” said Emilia, smiling with the confidence of a seasoned businesswoman. That’s how EmiliaK Collection, From Trash to Treasure, Handmade with Aloha in Paradise was born.

Kamala helped by joining the business with her daughter. But it is really Emilia who does mostly everything. Emilia makes jewelry out of beach seaglass found around Kaua‘i, and sometimes adds shells, seeds or other organic materials. The quality, the detail and the prime materials that go into her products are top-notch.

“She had 12 wholesalers on the island, she was selling pretty good,” Kamala said of Emilia’s business before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Kaua‘i.

During the early days of lockdowns and curfews, Emilia was given a bag of free food. Emilia said she had enough food, and some people don’t, and she should give the food to whoever needed. There is a free library on the road where she lives; you can pick up or leave a book. So she replaced the books with food.

“That was our first food pantry. And then Erik (Burton), our good friend from The Kaua‘i Store, made a food pantry, and he told me he needed a manager and that I could be the manager if I wanted,” Emilia said. “I said yes, because my mom thought it only be a week or two.”

The Kaua‘i Store was Erik Burton’s business that served as a hub for dozens of local artists and crafters. Since the pandemic started, he reinvented the business and decided to open a food pantry for the community. It by no means supported the business, but it supported the community, especially those who really needed food.

What Emilia thought would be only two weeks turned into several months. But it was the right fit. The young entrepreneur excelled at bringing in food and monetary donations.

All the fundraising efforts she had been doing all those years for her Denmark trip suddenly shifted to the food pantry. And the community stepped up and backed Emilia.

“The most important part of this is what has been our takeaway from all these nine crazy months. We’re trying to help people that are in an even worse situation than ourselves. And what we came down to, is really how she has inspired this community to step up,” Kamala said.

Emilia said there were many times when they ran out of food at the food pantry, and moments later people would show up with bags of food or money to buy more food.

“Farmers are coming in with food. People are coming in with food from their gardens. People are coming in with whatever they can get out of their pantry in their cupboards at home,” said Kamala, adding this is really not about Emilia, but it’s about this community stepping up and helping each other in these horrible times. “That’s what she’s really been good at, inspiring people.”

Emilia was also successful at receiving grants from the Zonta Club and funds from a couple Facebook fundraisers. She also gathered a handful of professional fire dancers, and together they participated in a couple private events raising funds for her cause. Additionally, people around the community found out about her endeavor, and would approach her on the street to donate money for the food pantry.

Along the way, almost everyone Emilia knew, and countless others she had never met, pitched in to help her, she said.

“They donated to us and they made us keep on going, otherwise, a long time ago, we would have stopped because we didn’t have enough funds, and I couldn’t do it all. I really appreciate that,” Emilia said.

As if feeding the community wasn’t enough, Emilia decided to give Santa Claus a little help. She thought if parents were having a hard time feeding their families, then kids may not get the gifts they wanted for Christmas, which is her favorite time of the year. So she applied for and received a grant to buy Christmas gifts. The children just had to go to the food pantry and write down on a list what they wanted for Christmas. On Dec. 21, about 40 people — all dressed up as elves, Santa Claus, Mrs. Santa Claus, angels, and even a couple dogs disguised as reindeers — volunteered for a special event at The Kaua‘i Store, when the kids received their presents.

The kids wished for toys, art supplies, stuffed animals and even a cell phone. Everyone got what they wanted, plus coupons for shave ice and smoothies.

“The most unusual present was a flashlight. We got the most-heavy duty, expensive flashlight we could find,” Emilia said.

She made sure to buy everything locally. After all, having a local business has helped her to realize how important it is to support other local businesses and keep the money flowing in the local economy.

Despite all this attention, Emilia is still just a normal child. She says she loves to hang out and play with her friends. She likes to rollerskate, was an avid soccer player before the pandemic, and even tried baseball — the only girl in a team with 14 boys. She dreams of helping her best friends develop their businesses when they grow up, and is already planning on buying a car for one of them as soon as she is able to get a license.

Kamala said when she sees how Emilia manifests her dreams, she won’t tell her she can’t do it. “You can do whatever you want,” she told her daughter.

“I love when you say that,” Emilia says looking at her mother.

For now, Kamala said, Emilia will take “a little break” from the food pantry.

But what about Emilia’s dream of meeting half of her family in Denmark? It’s on.

“I want to go to Denmark,” said Emilia, adding she would rather go in the winter because she wants to see the snow, but she might go in the summer.

She’s already planning to fundraise by selling her jewelry and who knows what else. You can never predict what she’ll come up with next. You just know that Emilia can do it.

Visit www.facebook.com/emiliakeiki/ or www.etsy.com/shop/emiliakjewelry?ref=search_shop_redirect to find Emilia’s jewelry.