LIHUE — Teena Starr of Island Comfort air conditioning said her favorite part is getting hugged by more than 100 young people.
“I got a gold ninja star,” Starr said, proudly holding up the original ninja implement and adding sound effects from a Bruce Lee movie.
“The best part of this is when they (the more than 100 Lihue Kauai Boys & Girls Clubs of Hawaii members) come — all at once!”
Teena and Ken Starr, owners of Island Comfort, brought their Kauai crew, including Jake Thorp and two big company vans, and were joined by Darcie Yukimura of the Hawaii Community Foundation, at the B&G Club Lihue Clubhouse Thursday.
They presented Tina Albao, B&G Club director, with a check for $2,000 to the cheering of nearly 125 B&G Club members who gathered under a specially-decorated “Welcome to Our Clubhouse” banner.
“I love the banner,” Teena Starr said. “I want to have it when we’re done. I’m going to hang it on one of the walls of my home.
Albao said the gesture and presentation were just another step toward improving community relations by the Boys & Girls Clkub Hawaii.
“We love all the children in our community,” Teena Starr said. “You folks are all very special,and we are happy to be able to do this.”
Ken Starr said Island Comfort has not limited its community giving to the B&G Club.
“Since starting here about a year ago, we have donated more than $150,000, including air conditioning the Kauai Christian Academy in Kilauea, the Aloha Church, and doing an emergency job for a pastor,” he said. “We’re looking at doing more.
That was the trigger that adjourned Thorp and the blue-shirted Island Comfort crew to the van parked alongside the fence. The doors were opened to reveal backpacks filled with school supplies and swimming gear which Thorp valued at more than $1,000.
“I grew up as a Boys & Girls Club member,” Thorp said. “We love kids, and our heart is to give these youngsters a better future and better resources to grow up with.”
Bryden Ka‘auwai, B&G Hawaii Youth of the Year for 2017, was among the throng of excited young people trying out their new swim caps.
“The B&G Club continues to inspire me in so many different ways,” Ka‘auwai said in a letter published as part of a fundraising flyer authored by Tim Motts, B&G Club of Hawaii president and CEO, and Chip Hammond, board chairman.
“They have shown me to never give up on my dreams and continuously push forward, even when times get rough,” said Ka‘auwai. “I can personally say that ‘great futures’ do indeed start at the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii,” wrote Ka‘auwai.
