Thousands of dollars in funds aimed at replacing over $30,000 in Kapa‘a Pop Warner equipment lost in fire early Thursday morning began coming in yesterday. To compound the loss, Thursday was the date scheduled for the participants to receive their
Thousands of dollars in funds aimed at replacing over $30,000 in Kapa‘a Pop Warner equipment lost in fire early Thursday morning began coming in yesterday.
To compound the loss, Thursday was the date scheduled for the participants to receive their equipment for the season. Instead, they got news that there was nothing left following the blaze.
Councilman Mel Rapozo, who doubles as one of the coaches for the Lihu‘e Pop Warner Association, had good news for his organization as he returned Friday afternoon from a visit with the Kapa‘a Pop Warner Association.
A representative of the youth football league said Rapozo was given two checks Friday, one for $5,000 and one for $2,000, and added that Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura has also pledged $1,000.
The report said parents have been told by Kauai Fire Department officials that arson is now being investigated as the cause of the fire.
The storage shed that held the uniforms and other equipment used by the Pee Wee players at Kapa‘a, which apparently had no electrical outlets, was totally destroyed by the fire which was extinguished at about 5:30 a.m. on Thursday.
In a letter sent out by the “Ohana of Kapaa Pop Warner” an estimate of $12,000 in lost brand new equipment was given. The letter said funds to pay for the equipment were raised over the last six months through fundraisers held by players and their parents.
The report said the total loss is over $34,000 when replacement of equipment still being used from past years is added to the tally. A letter to parents said there was no insurance policy for the contents of the shed.
This year the Kapa‘a organization is coming together under the Kapa‘a Eagles banner, replacing a setup where each of the division squads had their own names. That arrangement had organizers working doubly hard to raise funds for the new equipment the reorganized structure required.
The outpouring of support from the community spread beyond the shores of Kaua‘i Friday, too, as Rapozo said there was an individual who stepped forward from O‘ahu to offer a replacement of equipment so the Kapa‘a players could have a season.
The response has been quick and unhesitant on the Garden Island as Rapozo said he has been getting people dropping into his office with checks, and getting phone calls of support and inquiries as to what they can do to ensure the football players get to play this season.
Rapozo also said that the police received some good tips Friday, and are investigating each of these.
The Lihu‘e Pop Warner organization offered the use of uniforms and equipment that they had as extras, Rapozo said.
Additionally, he said that letters will go home with each of the players and cheer members asking for support from their families.
“These are new equipment,” he said. The Koloa Pop Warner Association has also stepped forward with a similar proposal for the Kapa‘a organization.
Kekaha Pop Warner Association recently received a grant that was earmarked for new mats for their cheerleader squads, Rapozo explained. However, after hearing of Kapa‘a’s misfortune, Rapozo said the organization called a quick meeting and it was decided unanimously that Kekaha would forego the mats this year, and instead opt to contribute the grant funds so Kapa‘a could get back on their feet.
But, the support goes deeper than the pocketbooks, Rapozo explained. Prior to the fire, the Kapa‘a organization was struggling to put together a Pee Wee team which requires a minimum of 16 players.
Before the fire, Rapozo said they had seven players, and when he returned to Lihu‘e on Friday afternoon, Kapa‘a had a Pee Wee team with the required 16 players.
The Pop Warner Jamboree is scheduled for early September and signals the start of the 2004-05 tackle football season — one that the Kapa‘a Pop Warner Association will appear in, and one they will never forget because of the caring and support that came from the community.
Donations can be made at First Hawaiian Bank branches to the “Kapaa Pop Warner Fire Fund.”
Chris Cook, Editor, can be reached at ccook@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 227).
Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) and dfujimoto@pulitzer.net
