Roxane Kimura
Nicole Kato photo
Roxane Kimura embarked on her journey to help others 21 years ago when her 6-year-old daughter Danica passed away.
“She’s my drive to leave that legacy for her,” Kimura says. “Through her passing, her mommy could do something good for another child, for another family.”
Through her own research, Kimura discovered that Danica suffered from toxic overload, which induced seizures. “Some people get a rash, some people get asthma, some people get migraines,” she explains. “But her side effect came in the form of seizures.”
Kimura and husband Lindsey learned that when children are exposed to chemicals (such as those used to clean the home), those chemicals get stored in fat cells.
“It gets stored in everyone’s fat cells,” Kimura adds. “But, in children, their largest amount of fat cells are in their brain because they’re so tiny.”
While everyone enjoys a clean home, Kimura offers alternatives to common cleaning products. “People don’t realize that when you mix Ajax with Clorox in cleaning, it causes a toxic gas that’s very deadly,” she says. “We could use baking soda; we could use vinegar and water.”
Twelve years ago, Kimura began using Melaleuca products to keep her home clean in a safe, natural way. She’s now using her experience as motivation to help Ronald McDonald House. Her involvement there started in the form of Stampin Up, an organization for rubber stamping and crafts.
“They asked us demonstrators if, during our classes, we could make cards or, if we have extra cards, if we could donate them to Ronald McDonald House,” she explains. “The families that stay there usually miss someone’s birthday, they miss a Mother’s Day, they miss a Christmas or Easter.”
Kimura was asked to deliver the cards and was put on a Ronald McDonald House newsletter mailing list. “One of the particular newsletters (seven years ago) was requesting cleaning supplies,” she says. “I saw what they were asking for, and I had a meltdown. I just could not see the kids here having to come home after they’ve had radiation or chemotherapy. They’re trying to save themselves, and it’s counteracting everything they’re fighting for.”
Kimura knew she had to do something. “I asked if I could donate everything on the list if they wouldn’t ask for it anymore,” she explains. “They didn’t know any better either, but knowing what it did to my daughter, could it affect a child with cancer?”
Since that life-changing newsletter, Kimura and her Melaleuca group have donated nearly $35,000 in cleaning supplies, and she started nonprofit Moms On a Mission Hawaii, which continues to help Ronald McDonald House in other capacities while educating the community about living a healthier and safer life.
