Christmas for 85 young people and their families arrived on Friday afternoon when they gathered in the Walmart parking lot.
The young people were recipients of the benevolence of Teddy and Pam Arroyo of Arroyo’s Plumbing, who picked up the tab for the 85 designated youth to a maximum of $125 per child.
Additionally, Walmart store Manager Diane Keeler invited all of the shoppers to help themselves to a free Christmas tree from the remaining stock at the store’s garden section.
“This is late this year,” Teddy Arroyo said. “We didn’t know if we could do this until about two weeks ago. I’m glad we could do this, but I don’t know if we can promise this for next year.”
Youth shoppers hailed from all parts of the island, gleaned from participating lists from the Boys &Girls Club’s three clubhouses, the Liliu‘okalani Trust, Kamehameha Preschools, the Kaua‘i Pop Warner Football League’s five associations and more.
“We had 80 young people to start,” Teddy Arroyo said. “And then, Naomi Matsuda, who takes care of houseless people, added five more kids. You heard me tell the parents, ‘This is for the kids. It’s what they want.”
Each young shopper was equipped with a $125 budget to shop for whatever they wanted at Walmart, and finish their shopping by checking out at the registers being manned by the Arroyos.
“This is the 10th year we’re doing this,” Teddy Arroyo said. “We started by buying bicycles for young people through Bicycle John. This is only our second year working with Walmart because there’s no more Bicycle John.”
Inspired by the actions of people like state Senate President Ron Kouchi and Stephanie Iona, whose focus is on the community, the Arroyos looked at a shopping bill that exceeded $10,600.
“You gotta take care of the community,” Teddy Arroyo said. “There’s a lot of suffering out there. I see it almost every day. I’m glad that this little something we do will help make Christmas a little brighter.”
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
