Hundreds of Hawaiian students created a ti leaf lei over 2.5 miles in length in memory of the victims of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Half of the 800-pound lei was delivered to the school on Sunday.

Ron Panzo and Kim Lara founded the Lei of Aloha for World Peace after the Paris terrorist attack in 2015. They’ve made leis following other tragedies as well.

This lei, said Panzo, has a different tone. It has an “enough is enough” feeling. The students from put their “mana and our collective spirit” into healing and prayer.

Enough is Enough

Panzo stressed that it was important to support the students. “Students are not coming home. It should not be happening.”

“When will enough be enough? We can no longer just offer up the lei and our aloha, our message must be stronger,” Panzo added.

The lei, a symbol of unity, was woven with the colors of the schools that helped make it. “These leis, they embody all of our aloha and all of our love and spirit from the people that helped here on the islands,” said one of the students who made it.

A teacher, Tasha Castro, agreed. “I think it’s just the idea of everyone coming together, and showing everyone that we are one and we are here for one another. And I think that’s the most important part. It’s that we are here to show our aloha for our love for the world and especially for Florida.”

The Ceremony

A ceremony was held Sunday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. It featured Hawaiian chants and a song. During the ceremony, the lei was draped over a fence.

The other half of the lei will be presented at another memorial site on Monday.