PUHI — School may not be on the minds of students at this point in time, but for about 60 to 75 volunteers who turned out, it was time to prepare back-to-school packages for students who may otherwise not be
PUHI — School may not be on the minds of students at this point in time, but for about 60 to 75 volunteers who turned out, it was time to prepare back-to-school packages for students who may otherwise not be able to afford those supplies.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said he never forgot an incident when he was in elementary school and a classmate missed the first few days of school. When Inouye asked him about those absent days, the friend replied that his family didn’t have enough money to get the basic back-to-school supplies.
It was from that experience that Inouye got the idea to start the Ready 2 Learn program a few years ago, a program now offering free school supplies to low-income children across the state.
Recently, the warehouse of Ron’s Electric in Puhi was converted into a packing house, as volunteers from the community as well as students joined together to assemble the back-to-school packages and prepare them for distribution as the opening of school draws closer. School starts later this month for those public-school students attending Kilauea School and Kapa‘a Elementary, Middle and High. School starts in late August for all others.
The volunteers at Puhi included Shannon Garcia-Hamilton, the latest Transportation Security Administration federal security director for Lihu‘e Airport, as well as members of her immediate family and staff. Others came from the mayor’s office; Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative, where Ed Nakaya and Annie Crane were busy coordinating between the two massive assembly lines. Representatives of Kodani & Associates had their secretary Sharon Sahara on hand to help keep things rolling, and from the Army National Guard, Staff Sgt. Jessica Higa was in the midst of one of the lines.
Students from Kula High School worked alongside students from Kaua‘i High School and Girl Scout Troops 150 and 950, while leaders of these groups set up a special keiki corner where youngsters were busy recycling cardboard cartons. Other volunteers came from Mark’s Place; Ron’s Electric; AHHA; KUCC Youth Group; Kauai Economic Development Board; and the Hui O Na Makuahine, a special group consisting of single mothers.
The first day of school looms for schools that are on the modified calendar, with some students heading back to classes in about two weeks. The supplies will be passed out at individual schools in time for the respective starts of the 2004-05 school year.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
