Supplying young students with strong start…Backpack project helps boost local families in need

KAHULUI — School supplies for local kindergartners in need mean more than just scissors, crayons, pencils and backpacks, volunteers said Saturday. Donations bring confidence to young students as they embark on a new educational journey.

by KEHAULANI CERIZO kcerizo@mauinews.com

“These children, when they show up to the first day of school, they’re equipped to learn,” said Marc Takamori, Kiwanis Club of the Valley Isle treasurer and volunteer. “They don’t feel like, ‘Oh, we couldn’t afford school supplies, so now I’m behind. But no, instead they think, ‘I have supplies. I am here for my first day of kindergarten. I am ready to learn’ . . . They’re confident.”

Kiwanis Club of the Valley Isle’s “Project Backpack: Equipped to Learn”annual school supply donation drive kicked off over the weekend at Queen Ka’ahumanu Center. Items such as scissors, markers, crayons, glue, pencils and school boxes will go toward about 200 low-income or at-risk students at the end of this month through Maui Economic Opportunity’s Head Start Program. Also, on-site monetary donations via credit/debit card or cash will help purchase supplies.

Recipients in recent years are students with the Maui Economic Opportunity Head Start Program, which serves hundreds of kids in centers on Maui and on Molokai. Families have eligibility under the categories of homelessness, foster, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income, poverty income guidelines and/or special needs, according to the MEO website.

“We are blessed they chose us,” said Alex Domingo, MEO Head Start assistant director. “The families that qualify to be in our program have to be low income or at risk. With the support, there are no barriers for (students) to be successful in school.”

Volunteers Marc Takamori (from left), Kiwanis Club of the Valley Isle treasurer; Debbie Herrera, First Hawaiian Bank Wailuku branch service manager; Cheska Liwag, Wailuku branch teller; and Alex Domingo, Maui Economic Opportunity Head Start assistant director, share a laugh during the “Project Backpack” school supply drive for young Maui students in need on Saturday at Queen Ka’ahumanu Center. The drive continues today and next weekend. The Maui News / KEHAULANI CERIZO photo

Domingo said that the drive is an opportunity for families to learn about MEO’s Head Start program, which helps families in early childhood development and school readiness.

“When some people think MEO, they just think of the bus,” she said, laughing. “There’s more to what we offer.”

This year, blue-and-purple school boxes, multicolored Crayola crayons, Elmer’s glue, blunt scissors and other requested donations on the school supply list began to fill a wagon near the Ka’ahumanu Center stage on Saturday. A pinwheel, educational material and toys for visiting children decorated donation tables as four volunteers staffed the donation site.

The Kiwanis Club of the Valley Isle nonprofit began Project Backpack in 2006, organizers said. This year, First Hawaiian Bank donated project funds and volunteer manpower, and the shopping center offered promotion and drive location help. Also, money was sought and approved from the Mayor Alan Arakawa Community Kokua Fund, Takamori said.

“All these people are helping out, along with the community,” he said.

Linda Munsell, county Department of Housing & Human Concerns deputy director (right), stops at the “Project Backpack” school supply donation drive Saturday at the Queen Ka’ahumanu Center. The drive, which gathers supplies or financial donations to help students in need who are entering Kindergarten this year, continues today. The Maui News / KEHAULANI CERIZO photo

Takamori, who also serves as county Department of Transportation director, said all donations help, whether material or monetary, large or small. If people donate money, it will be used to purchase school supplies for this year’s drive, organizers said.

Toward the end of the month, Domingo said, school supply-filled backpacks will be presented to students. Getting supplies early helps students and families breathe a sigh of relief before entering kindergarten, she added.

For the 2019-20 Hawaii public school year, students begin on Aug. 5.

“We want to set them up for success,” Domingo said.

WHAT: Kiwanis Club of the Valley Isle “Project Backpack: Equipped to Learn”

A backpack with various school supplies sits on a donation table Saturday at Queen Ka’ahumanu Center. The Kiwanis Club of the Valley Isle community project is seeking scissors (blunt), crayons, white glue, No. 2 pencils box, broad-tip markers box and plastic school boxes. The Maui News / KEHAULANI CERIZO photo

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 7; 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 12; 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 13; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 14

WHERE: Queen Ka’ahumanu Center, near escalators fronting stage

WHAT: Supplies, cash or credit card donations accepted

SUPPLIES NEEDED: Scissors (blunt); eight large crayons box; 24-count crayons; 4-ounce white glue; box No. 2 pencils; 10 broad-tip markers box; large plastic school box