Youth Outreach House, aka YO!, is trying to make Christmas bright for 70 homeless teenagers. Melanie Holt and her friends are seeing to it that on Tuesday the teens will receive backpacks filled with care packages. There also will be raffle prizes. Uli Cutter is cooking the meal along with Melanie and other volunteers from St. Clement's Episcopal Church. Contributors include Smith Barney, McDonald's, Jamba Juice and Wallace Dollar Theaters. Making time for the less fortunate are volunteers Audra Stevenson, Scott Butera, Gary Slovin, Sherri Rigg and Van Cornwell. Persons or firms wishing to make a contribution should contact Jeff Kaplan at 942-5858 ... Escada is in a charitable mood, too. For every purchase of $1,000 at Escada through Jan. 4, $100 will go to the buyer's chosen charity ...

Israel “;IZ”; Kamakawiwoole may be gone but he is not forgotten. IZ has been ranked as the No. 4 World Music Artist by Billboard Magazine. IZ's “;Wonderful World,”; produced by Jon de Mello's Mountain Apple Co., is No. 5 on the World Music Album Chart. Billboard also ranks Mountain Apple fifth in World Music Labels. The magazine's “;Year In Music”; is in today's issue ...

Kahekili, an original hula drama about Maui chief Kahekili, made its European stage debut in Germany last month. The Kahekili cast includes Maui and Oahu performers and dancers under the artistic direction of kumu hula and Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Cultural Programs Director Hokulani Holt. They were invited to perform at two major events in Germany: the Internationales Tanzfestival NRW 2008 in Essen Nov. 20, and the Internationale Tanzwochen in Neuss Nov. 21. The Internationales Tanzfestival NRW (North Rhine Westfalia), presented annually by Pina Bausch, a leading European modern dance choreographer, takes place simultaneously in the cities of Dusseldorf, Essen and Wuppertal. “;It was quite an honor to be asked to open Pina Bausch's dance festival,”; Hokulani said. “;Hula kahiko is something they have never seen before, and we brought them new awareness of what Hawaiian dance is”; ...

Dancing on: Hula dancers Debbie Nakanelua, a former Miss Hawaii, and former Miss Universe Brooke Lee will share the stage at the Halekulani's House Without a Key through Dec. 31 while dancer Kanoe Miller, another former Miss Hawaii, is on vacation. Lots of beauty in the House. Kanoe returns Jan. 3 ... Jay Larrin presents a Christmas dinner-concert Tuesday in the Hawaii Prince Hotel. No-host cocktails get things under way at 5:30 p.m., followed by a Prince Court dinner buffet at 6 and the concert at 7 in the Captain's Room. Cost is $69.50. Call Alan Yamamoto, 371-2910, for more info ...