TONGA RELIEF EVENT

Recently, the Kingdom of Tonga was hit with a volcano eruption causing a tsunami that impacted over 84,000 people. Families lost homes, communication lines were destroyed, and the islands were left in complete ash.

To give back to the island of Tonga and those affected by the Tsunami, we hosted a Tonga Relief Event on February 17th, 2022 in partnership with the Tonga National Basketball Team, the University of Oregon Sports Product Management, and Morrison Market.

The event garnered a great turnout. We were able to fill up an entire U-Haul with shoes and clothing to help the youth in Tonga who were impacted by the Tsunami and volcano eruption! 

We want to thank The Gard3n, DJ Solo, and Forest Pond for amazing live performances. A key highlight of the event was a raffle of a pair of hand crafted Tongan inspired Air Jordan 1’s created by UO SPM students, in collaboration with world-renowned Tongan tattoo artists, Jed and Mana Fifita.

We want to extend a huge thank you to the City of Portland for showing love to Tonga by lighting up the Morrison Bridge, the convention center and flying the Tongan flag at city hall in solidarity.

Community is a founding pillar of who we are at SMOOVE and this event was a great example of the importance of coming together as one, supporting all cultures and walks of life. We couldn’t have done it without the community’s support. Thank you to everyone who helped in putting the event together and those who came out and supported the cause. The event was truly a special moment. We look forward to connecting with the community in the future.

Ofa’ Atu