POIPU — The Keiki Bash last Friday brought families together for a night of fun activities while helping the Kauai Independent Food Bank with its holiday fundraising efforts at The Shops at Kukuiula.
“I’m supposed to be not working,” said KIFB Executive Director Kelvin Moniz. “But this Keiki Bash has always been one of our biggest fundraising events so I thought I would check in.”
A check on Tuesday morning revealed that KIFB finished with 135 pounds of food collected, and more than $1,000 in funds. This total does not include the month-long promotion at the Wednesday Kauai Culinary Market where Santa has been making weekly appearances for photos in exchange for a donation to the food bank.
During the Keiki Bash, an artificial snowfall sent young people into a frenzied mass of squealing, jumping and running bodies.
The sugar fuel for all the activity came from the s’mores station where keiki and their parents could roast over-sized marshmallows over a specially created trough of fire before squishing the hot lump between graham crackers.
More sugar was available in the icing used for the cookie decorating station that took up the length of the downstairs Merriman’s restaurant.
All that sugar needed to be burnt off, so in addition to the snowfall, a scavenger hunt featuring exploration and discovery stations was set up the length of the shopping center. Keiki ran up and down the shopping center while accomplishing the scavenger hunt tasks.
The holidays at The Shops at Kukuiula also provided a boost for the Koloa Elementary School that set up a special gift wrapping section.
Additionally, the shopping center hosted its annual Holiday Gift Bag campaign featuring hand-painted bags by Koloa School students available for a minimum dollar donation at select shops and the management office.
The Koloa School Ukulele Band launched the campaign on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving with a holiday ukulele songfest during the Kauai Culinary Market.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
