HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Sadie Yu, an 11-year-old from Hilo, founded Sweetheart Farm to support her family. Her homemade lilikoi butter, produced to help with little brother Ka'ohe's medical expenses, recently garnered attention from Hawaiian Airlines (HAL).
"When my brother was little. He started having seizures," Yu said. "He ended up going to the hospital more often. Medical bills are expensive, so I wanted to help out,"
After learning about Yu's story and her efforts to alleviate the financial burden of her brother's rare medical condition, HAL decided to feature Sweetheart Farm on a flight from Kona, Hawaii to Los Angeles, California.
"We watched your [KHON2 News] segment. And we were just touched by her story, you know, just her care for her brother. Her determination and just how hard she was working to help support his medical bills, we just felt like the least we could do was start to get the product on board, which was, you know, her dream," HAL Spokesperson Alex Da Silva said.
Hawaiian Airlines invited Sweetheart Farm to sell jars of their buttery, tangy passion fruit spread to passengers.
"For anyone interested in purchasing Sadie's lilikoi butter, you're helping her and her brother Ka'ohe as all proceeds will go directly to sweetheart farm," HAL Flight Attendant Robert Kosko said.
Within minutes, Yu sold out 100 jars.
"When I heard her story I thought, 'Wow. That's amazing,'" Linda Lee said. Lee bought six jars from Sweetheart Farm. "She's like, such a young age. She's able to do this, and not be frustrated about it. Or be ashamed because some families, especially Asian culture we try to hide, you know. Touched by her story,"
Sweetheart Farm's lilikoi butter will be sold on select Hawaiian Airlines flights for a limited time.
"My dream was to get my product on Hawaiian Airlines. And now that it came to reality, I need to find a new dream." Yu said.