MAY MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Wednesday, May 14, 2025 - 11:30 AM

Jolene’s By the Bay, Bayview Golf Park / Kaneohe, HI

May 2025 Newsletter

Welcome, New Members! We're happy you decided to join us. Read all about us in this Newsletter, on our website, Facebook and Instagram. Of course you can learn more by simply showing up to our various activities, where we do charitable work for Hawaii's families and children. We could always use help at the Thrift Shop too.

Mahalo for Your Dedicated Support

It hardly seems possible that we are coming to the close of our fiscal year. We have had such a successful year, serving more children and families than ever. I hope you can join us for our last luncheon of this fiscal year on May 14. (See the Hospitality article below.)

We hope to see many of you there, as we will be voting on the proposed 2025-26 Budget and installing our Board of Directors and Appointed Chairs for the coming year. And, of course, we will hear about our continued contributions to the community through our programs. 

 A huge mahalo to all of our members who have worked so hard this year, administering our philanthropic programs and helping us to raise funds through our Thrift Shop and other fundraising activities. We have truly made a difference in the lives of many, many children and families throughout the state of Hawaii. The U.S. Department of Labor currently estimates the value of a volunteer hour to be $33.49.

However, we all know that the hours you spend with this organization are priceless. Mahalo for all that you do.

The last Assistance League Luncheon Meeting of the 2024-25 fiscal year will happen on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 from 11:30 am-2:00 pm at Jolene’s By the Bay, located at the Bayview Golf Park. The location is in Kaneohe on the windward side. The address is:

45-285 Kaneohe Bay Dr.

Kaneohe, HI. 96744

Parking is FREE. The lunch Includes Your Choice of Sandwich or Salad (Entrée Salad), Side Salad, Iced Tea, and Dessert.

Lunch Entrée Choices:

1) Butta Shrimp Roll $25.00

2) Pastrami Roll $25.00

3) Smoked Brisket Salad $25.00

4) Lobster Salad $34.00

5) Lobster Roll $37.00

RSVP no later than Friday, May 9th to althrift281@gmail.com, and please indicate your lunch choice.

Please let us know if you wish to be included in a carpool. We hope to see you there!

Annual Dues and Parking Report Due

Just a reminder that Assistance League of Hawaii dues of $60.00 for 2025-2026 are due. Please mail your check to:

Assistance League of Hawaii

Attention: Treasurer

1505 Young Street

Honolulu, Hi 96826

Be sure to indicate dues in the memo section of your check. You may also drop the check off at the Thrift Shop. If you choose to pay in cash, please put it in an envelope with your name on it and place it in the Treasurer’s file folder in the Mail drawer in the Ohana Room.

I also want to remind you that if you want to be reimbursed for parking for December through May 2024-2025, please fill out a Staff Parking Log sheet; one or 2 sheets per volunteer. These sheets are in two white binders; one is downstairs behind the counter and the second one is upstairs in the corner of the desk in the Ohana Room.

Please include all dates December through May that you parked on the street when the shop was open. Note: It is for 6 months. Estimate your hours for May and submit your log sheet no later than May 25th. You may give it to me or put it in the Treasurer’s file folder in the Mail drawer in the Ohana Room.

Walkers Ready for May 3rd Charity Walk

Assistance League of Hawaii is gearing up to participate in the upcoming Hawaii Visitor Industry Charity Walk alongside the On-Time Reach group. Scheduled for Saturday, May 3rd, Assistance League of Hawaii's dedicated team will number an impressive 19 walkers this year.

Participants from Assistance League of Hawaii are asked to meet promptly at 6:30 am at Ala Moana Park. The designated meeting point will be at the restroom facility located nearest to Lifeguard Station 1E, ensuring an easily identifiable location for all team members.

For those who have already registered for the event, wristbands will be available for pickup at the meeting point on Saturday morning. This will streamline the process and allow walkers to commence to the event smoothly.

Assistance League of Hawaii extends a heartfelt mahalo to all individuals who have signed up to be a part of our walking team.



Spotlighting Our Amazing New

Members and Community Volunteers

Cathie Valdovino joined us as a new member after our April newsletter went to press, so we wanted to tell you a little more about her. She was referred to Assistance League of Hawaii by Mariann Tesauro and her mentor is Joan Helbling. Cathie is a costume designer and stylist. She also has done work in broadcasting in the past. Cathie has already spent time volunteering upstairs at the Thrift Shop. She is currently busy with costume design for the Honolulu production of The Tina Turner Musical. We are excited to have her on board as a new volunteer and know she will be a great asset to Assistance League of Hawaii!

Our newest member to join is Jamie Tangonan. Jamie heard about us from Mariann Tesauro. Helen Taufa'asau will be her mentor. Jamie recently retired from the State of Hawaii, Dept. of Labor, Workers’ Compensation. She enjoys traveling to Japan and Vegas, and she walks twice a week with her old friends from high school. She is a new member of the Hospitality Committee and is eager to learn about other volunteer opportunities.

Six new members were recognized at the April Membership Meeting: Jamie Tangonan, Cathie Valdovino, Carla Joaquin, Mariann Tesauro, Rae Fabrao, and Maren Bonnet (photo above). They each received a lei and were treated to lunch. We welcome them and are here to guide them in their new journey as volunteers with Assistance League of Hawaii!

It was a pleasure to recognize Cathy Kissel as our April Star. Cathy has been a member since 2011. She worked on education for one year and then was Operation School Bell Chair. She served on the Nominations Committee during the Pandemic when it was done on Zoom. Although she currently lives most of the time in California, we are very fortunate that about 4 years ago, thanks to Zoom and her ability to travel back and forth, she became our Strategic Planning Chair.

We all look forward to her festive evaluation meetings. She was instrumental in revising our Five-Year Strategic Plan, and we all applaud her ability to give us hands-on Action Plans to guide us each year with such energy and positivity. In addition to all of this, she is currently on the Membership Committee and is a great resource in that area. Congratulations, Cathy!

Our first annual "New Member Celebration" was held in our Ohana Room on April 23rd. The purpose of the gathering was to bring peers together and provide them with an opportunity to learn from each other by sharing information about their volunteer activities.

It was a well-received event with 10 new members (who have all joined this fiscal year 2024-25) and nine mentors attending. A wonderful fiesta lunch topped off the day! Hopefully, we can include more of our new members next time!

The future for new members looks good, thanks in part to establishing a mentorship committee to further develop our mentorship program. If you would like to be a mentor, let us know! We are also hoping to find volunteers to serve on the orientation committee. You can contact Helen Taufa'asau at (808) 728-8420 if interested!

Our successful "New Member Celebration" was held in the Ohana Room.

Elevate 808 to Lift

Assistance League of Hawaii on TV

The new Elevate 808 television crew recently spent time capturing the heart and hard work at the Assistance League of Hawaii Thrift Shop on March 21. The Elevate 808 TV crew was at our Thrift Shop for over three hours, documenting the tireless efforts of our dedicated volunteers.

Cameras rolled as volunteers busily worked both upstairs and downstairs, showcasing the assembly of essential Lullaby Layettes and comforting Malama Bears destined for distribution within the community.

Elevate 808’s visit culminated in an insightful interview with Gloria McGehee-Koel, our incoming President at Assistance League of Hawaii. The Interview was conducted by Elevate 808’s host Nolan Hong.

The Elevate 808 team continued their taping sessions at one of our Operation Wildlife visits held at Palisades Elementary School on April 7th. This session, focusing on wildlife conservation and education, will be an Elevate 808 feature on their program.

The episode showcasing Assistance League of Hawaii Thrift Shop is anticipated to air sometime after May. We’ll notify you as soon as the broadcast date is announced. Assistance League of Hawaii will also receive a recording of the segment for use on our website, YouTube and Facebook pages.

This valuable TV opportunity was made possible through the initiative of Hazel Sumile. This serves as a powerful reminder that simply sharing information about the non-profit can lead to unexpected and significant opportunities. Assistance League of Hawaii encourages you to pick up business cards, readily available at the Thrift Shop, and share them with people you meet.

A special acknowledgment is also extended to member volunteer Chris Pelletier, whose professional experience in the television industry proved invaluable in coordinating and facilitating the successful filming with Elevate 808. We express immense gratitude for Chris's dedication and expertise, echoing the overall appreciation for the entire volunteer team.

In other marketing efforts, Assistance League of Hawaii also ran radio advertisements throughout March on KINE 105.1, further raising awareness for their cause. Listeners can anticipate hearing more radio spots in the future.

Elevate 808 crew shot video segments at our Thrift Shop and at

Palisades Elementary School at one of our OWL presentations.

Your Strategic Feedback in Action!

A sincere thank you to everyone who participated in our recent annual Evaluation Meetings! Your feedback is invaluable as we work together to strengthen our chapter and enhance our community impact.

We discussed many great ideas across key areas. These are just a few examples: To support membership and leadership, we reaffirmed our commitment to continuing the valuable mentor program. To expand our reach, one exciting strategy involves targeting students who need volunteer hours for graduation. Regarding adapting our services, a practical step discussed was connecting with local non-profit organizations, storage facilities, and retailers to explore partnerships for Thrift Shop donations.

These highlights represent just a fraction of the productive discussions. A detailed summary capturing all suggestions is available for interested members. To receive the full report, please email Cathy Kissel at cathykissel@gmail.com.

It is also available online at our website.

Your input directly shapes our future efforts. Together, we're making an even greater difference!

It’s A Wrap for the OWL Program

As of April 7, Operation Wildlife (OWL) finished all the presentations at schools for this school year. Palisades Elementary was our 64th school this year, as compared to 58 that we visited last school year.

We are now in the process of collecting data that's in our OWL website. (Many thanks to Melvin Ah Ching and Linda McColgan for helping us to automate our evaluations and student completion data!).

As of April 24, a total of 118 teachers have submitted their evaluations! Having them available to do and submit online is making a huge difference. One comment we can easily see is that teachers are unanimous in saying YES to the question, "Are you interested in having the Program visit again next year?"

You may not be aware that one of the things we have done for many years is to provide a gift to the participating school when we visit. Over the years, we have given videos and DVD's, but have returned to the old-fashioned items of real books. 

This year's book is entitled Don't Let Them Disappear, by Chelsea Clinton and illustrated by Gianna Marino. The teachers are asked to share the one book we leave at the school, since we have not been giving one to each teacher. They all greatly appreciate that we have been giving them books that are relevant to the OWL theme of taking care of our environment.

More data will be shared as it is collected and analyzed at our OWL Evaluation Meeting on May 5. OWL Team members, please join in on this important meeting! Please let Hazel know if you will be there.

Share Volunteers Share Donated Fabric

with Kokua Kalihi Valley Program

A relationship has developed over the past couple of years between the Kokua Kalihi Valley (KKV) Seams Wonderful Program and the Waipahu Soto Mission Church. The congregants of the church have been collecting donated fabric to sell during their annual Rummage Sale. Whatever is not sold has been donated to Assistance League of Hawaii. In turn, all that fabric, so far about 3 carloads full, is being donated to KKV's sewing program.

We also deliver clothing, toys, toiletries, footwear and other essential items to the Kokua Kalihi Valley's "general population" of mainly federally-sponsored immigrants from Micronesia and Polynesia, as well as needy Hawaiian families in their 500-unit facility.

On another note, we are in touch with Child and Family Services for their Domestic Violence Shelters that need clothing donations. They are presently working with We Care and Sue Bauer, but may also be a good candidate for Share Partners. We will be meeting with them soon.

We Care About Domestic Violence

This month's We Care article is focused on what we are doing with Domestic Violence in our Community. As you know, we have had an ongoing partnership with the Domestic Violence Action Center, and Lorna Motas recently delivered shampoo, hair conditioner, toilet paper, baby wipes, and tooth brushes, for a total of $256.00.

As much as we have done with that particular center over the years, we have always felt that there must be more agencies helping these victims in our community, but we have not been able to locate them. A big reason for that, of course, is that these agencies, in their efforts to protect the people whom they shelter, do not share their locations or very much information about themselves at all.

So we are very excited to now have a partnership with another very large agency in the Ewa area that serves this and other groups of people in need. Sue Bauer is working to establish a system of providing assistance to the Child and Family Service. She has delivered urgently-needed sheets, towels, personal hygiene items, wash cloths, and military-style duffle bags, in addition to a bagful of Malama Bears specifically for the Domestic Violence shelters CFS has. More updates will be provided as we establish more ways of supporting the various types of services CFS provides to their community.

Thrift Shop Volunteers Are Always Welcome!

Our Thrift Shop continues to be a busy and productive place. Fortunately for us, we get lots of wonderful donations of merchandise every day that we are open. You never know what you’ll find in a bag or box of donations. Clothing is a constant and our top selling item.

However, we also get lots of linens: sheets, blankets, towels, pillows, tablecloths, placemats, curtains, etc. Shirley Rebello heads up this department, and she could use some helpers to sort, measure, hang, tag and display a massive amount of linens every Wednesday and Saturday. These items disappear from our shelves very quickly, so help is always needed to restock our supply of linens.

If you have an interest in a particular area of the Thrift Shop, we welcome your help and expertise. Are you a crafter? Do you have knowledge of collectibles or artwork? Do you enjoy researching the value of merchandise and fine items on Google? Stop by the Thrift Shop and offer your assistance, and I guarantee you will be welcomed with open arms.

We have found that our "Rovers", who greet customers, help with incoming donations, and tidy up around the shop during our morning hours, have been a great addition to our downstairs crew. If you think this sounds like something you would enjoy, let me know, and I will give you some minimal training and schedule you to be at our front door to greet customers. We currently have openings for Rovers on some Saturday mornings.

We appreciate everyone who gives us some of their time to process donations upstairs and work with our customers downstairs. We proudly tell everyone that we are an “all-volunteer” organization, thanks to all of you. Aloha!

Mahalo for volunteering at Assistance League of Hawaii!

May 2025 Thrift Shop

Calendar for Cashiers & Rovers

Thrift Shop Days & Hours:

Tuesday & Thursdays 9:30 am to 1:00 pm

Saturdays 9:30 am to 3:00 pm

Login to our Members Page on the website to view another copy of the current Thrift Shop Calendar.

Submit Your Service Hours

Turn in your monthly service hours to: alhservicehours@gmail.com Enter your first name, last name and the hours you worked (please do not enter any text – just numerical hours).

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