SEPTEMBER REGULAR MEETING

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 • 11:00 A.M.

Oahu Veteran's Center,1298 Kukila Street, Honolulu, HI

September 2024 Newsletter

Donate to Foodland's GIVE ALOHA campaign from now to September 30. Details in "Resource Development" below. KWAK! 🐥

READY SET GO!

As the school year begins, so do our programs. There are many volunteer opportunities throughout our organization. If you are interested in helping with one of our programs, just contact Hazel Sumile, and she will get you in touch with the appropriate program chairperson. Would you like to be on the Hospitality Committee, Resource Development Committee, Marketing /Communication Committee, Membership Committee, or Property Management Committee? Any of these committees would be happy to have additional help.

See the Resource Development article below to learn more about Foodland’s annual Give Aloha campaign, which we affectionately call KWAK 🐥 (Kokua With Aloha Kala). An additional twenty percent is added to all monies donated and given to Assistance League of Hawaii. Please mention this to your friends and relatives.

Our first Membership Meeting and luncheon of the year is Wednesday, September 11, at Oahu Veterans Center. See the details in the Hospitality article below. At this meeting we will be presenting information on all our programs, so I encourage you to invite a friend or two to lunch to introduce them to all the fun and rewarding things we offer our community.

Our Thrift Shop is the major source of funding for our programs, and help is always needed there. Contact Peggy Monell or Sharon Ehrhorn if you have a few spare hours to help at the shop.

The lesson for this month is GET INVOLVED! It takes the time and talents of many individuals to keep our organization running smoothly, and we hope you will join us in our commitment to the people of Hawaii.

Looking forward to seeing you as we start the year!

Support Hawaii's children and families by donating to the Assistance League of Hawaii through Foodland’s Give Aloha program, known within our organization as KWAK: 🐥 Kokua with Aloha Kala.

Here's how to donate:

1. Shop: Visit Foodland or Sack n' Save from now until September 30.
2. Donate: At checkout, tell the cashier you want to donate to the Assistance League of Hawaii and provide code 77759.
3. Be sure to use your Foodland Maika'i Card to maximize your donation. Foodland will match a portion of your donation up to $249.00.

Look for our banner: Our banner (below) will be prominently displayed at the Ewa Beach Foodland location. The Give Aloha campaign will end on September 30, 2024. For additional information, please visit Foodland's Give Aloha website.

Welcome New Members

Since June 1st we have welcomed 4 new members:

Mary Wond - joined Assistance League of Hawaii in June and has put in several hours working upstairs at our Thrift Shop. She contacted us through our Assistance League of Hawaii website. She has a background in education and has also volunteered at a Thrift Shop in California.

Constantine Fox - also joined Assistance League of Hawaii in June and is already an enthusiastic volunteer in our downstairs Thrift Shop. He was referred to Assistance League of Hawaii by his husband and fellow Assistance League of Hawaii member, Robert Fox.

Bobby Black - first worked upstairs in our Thrift Shop as a Community Volunteer putting in many hours already! He first heard about Assistance League of Hawaii when he read an article about us in the newspaper. After talking to his friend, Linda Tsark, he joined as a member in July. Bobby is a retired fireman, who worked many years at the Waianae Fire Station.

Lorna Motas - attended our social in July and was referred to us by Hazel Sumile. Lorna joined in July and has begun her volunteering journey by helping with shopping for We Care and helping at the Walmart Shopping Event held on Aug. 24th. She has shown an interest in Hospitality, so look for her at the sign-in table at our first meeting on September 11th. Lorna is a retired account executive from Estee Lauder and Clinique. She has taught school, currently volunteers at Kaumakapili Church in Kalihi and is on the Board of Hawaii United Church of Christ Conference.

Be sure to say "hello" to these new members when you see them!

Please keep in mind that one of the best sources for new member recruitment is YOU! When you RSVP for our upcoming luncheon, consider bringing a guest who might be interested in volunteering. It will be a great opportunity to meet other Assistance League of Hawaii members and to learn about who we are and what we do.

Committee Working on Action Plan

Strategic Planning March evaluation meeting at The Outrigger Canoe Club (photo above)

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The Strategic Planning committee is working on our 2024/2025 Action Plan based on the results from our March Evaluation Meetings. 

Thank you to all our members who participated in these important meetings.



Program Committees Working Hard

Operation School Bell's first in-store event was on August 24 at Walmart Ala Moana. The next one is on Sept. 14 at Walmart Kapolei.

Aloha, Assistance League of Hawaii member volunteers! Your Philanthropic Programs Committee has been hard at work even during the summer, getting ready for the new school year. They continued to do their valuable work throughout the hot months of summer. Need didn't end just because school was out. The work continues!

The Philanthropic Programs will be holding their second annual Program Fair for our first membership meeting on September 11, and we do hope you will attend. We will be providing you with updates and information about our programs and explaining why you might want to join up with us.

See you on September 11th!

Following are bits of information from our philanthropic programs:

Operation School Bell Charges Ahead Helping Hawaii's School Children

Operation School Bell^® (OSB) has mailed out all our letters for the schools to order t-shirts, and we are already getting some responses back. We had our first In-Store Shopping Event last Saturday, August 24 at Walmart on Ke'eaumoku Street, with three more to follow. We had 140 students purchasing new school clothes and shoes, adding up to approximately $70 each. It was a good time for everyone!!

The next Operation School Bell In-Store Shopping Event will be at Walmart in Kapolei on Saturday, September 14. Sign up with Mary Monohon or Gerri Migita. Another In-Store Shopping Event will be held on September 28 back at the Walmart on Ke'eaumoku Street.

OPERATION SCHOOL BELL LITERACY SERVICES: Prior to beginning library services at Pu'uhale School Library, several of our volunteers have been going to the library to prepare for the new school year by re-organizing various areas, cleaning/dusting, working on the scheduling of classes and processing new books, many of which were purchased by Assistance League.

Library services for the students is planned to begin early this month.

-- Carol Hasegawa (Literacy Chair)



OWL Prepared for New School Year

The Operation Wildlife Team has been hard at work over the summer getting ready to open the new school year with a bang. We listened to evaluation comments from teachers as well as from our own Team members, and in response we:

• Revised our video to include more info about Hawaii

• Worked hard to put the Teacher's Packet of materials onto a new OWL Classroom web page within the Assistance League of Hawaii website

• Have purchased additional medium-size suitcases to lighten the load of the large suitcases we have been carrying around. Each team will now carry two lighter cases, rather than one heavy one.

• Updated the Cheat Sheets for each suitcase to ensure that there is a stronger match with the actual contents of the case.

We are still looking for folks who want to help with the program, and who are interested in helping on a Neighbor Island visit. Come sign up with us on September 11 at our Philanthropic Programs Fair & Luncheon. See you then!

Outreach Ships PE Gear to

Fire Ravaged Maui School

Outreach purchased PE equipment for King Kamehameha III Elementary School in Lahaina Maui for their after-school program this school year. The principal was very grateful to receive the help so expeditiously! Deluxe Hoops, Kickball Sets, Voit Enduro Kickball/Soccerballs, Agility Ladders, Beach Balls, 12-inch Cones Set, Game/Boundary Orange Cones, Fleece Balls and Foam Dice were purchased. The cost and shipping of the equipment was about $1,800.

If you know of any organizations that were impacted by the fire on Maui, please contact Miho Teipel at alohabutterfly888@gmail.com to see if we can assist on a one-time basis.

We Care Packed Layettes and Delivered Malama Bears During the Summer

We Care began the new fiscal year with a bang on June 10 with a Lullaby Layette packing party at Mary Kay Junk’s home. We packed a record number of 25 bags or 250 layettes, which were immediately delivered to 7 anxious hospitals/clinics. Sadly, we then had to bid a fond Aloha and Mahalo to Mary Kay for managing the Lullaby Layette program for many, many years and for opening up her home and hosting all the packing parties.

Other We Care activities during the summer months included delivery of Malama Bears to Castle Hospital, Waianae Comprehensive and Navian. Linda McColgan made two deliveries to the Domestic Violence Action Center on 07/15/24 and 08/13/24, to fulfill their request for cleaning supplies, personal hygiene items and diapers.

On August 2nd, Minta Nishimura, Hazel Sumile, Lorna Motas and Linda Tsark assisted four children living at the Ho’omalu Emergency Shelter in Waianae in shopping for school clothes and supplies at Target in Kapolei. 

Share Volunteers Bring in Bags of Donations from Honolulu Airport

The Share Area is out of service for about two weeks after our members picked up 130 large black plastic bags of donations from Honolulu Airport Lost & Found. It will take awhile to sort through all the bags and determine what can be sold at the Thrift Shop, what can be donated to our Share partners, or what will be passed along to United Cerebral Palsy. We can always use help to sort the contents of these bags.

Fall Marketing Update

To encourage more volunteers, we have a new flag to be used at events. The flag highlights the statistics from last year: 35,000 people served and 23,000 volunteer hours. With assistance from Helen Taufa'asau, a complimentary flyer has been created to share at events, at the Thrift Shop, etc.

New business cards have been updated with fiscal year statistics are on the back. Pick up some cards in the Ohana Room to share with people you meet.

Mel, Hazel, Linda Andersen and Linda McColgan created a new web-site for school teachers to access Operation Wildlife worksheets. Also two new Google surveys have been created for teachers to use to send in their OWL evaluations and goal tallies. Let us know if your committee would like to discuss leveraging the web site in new ways or to create a survey.



News from our Thrift Shop

Many Mahalos to Mary Monohon and Linda Tsark for picking up and delivering 130 bags from the airport to our shop. This was a big contribution towards our various children’s programs. What appeared to be a daunting task was soon attacked by Assistance League of Hawaii members and will eventually be sorted, priced and displayed on the floor. There are many bags still to be sorted, so if you have an hour or two, there is a bag waiting for you.

C.P. Pick Up News: Since United Cerebral Palsy recently underwent re-organization, we are very fortunate that they decided to continue to serve us. With their smaller truck and a steadfast worker, Jay, there are no complaints on how large our load is or how many trips he has to make to Savers. They now pick up on Thursday mornings, which may prove to be a challenge in the parking lot, but we appreciate their help.

Summer is almost over. Thanks to all the devoted workers who stepped up when needed to fill in while others were on vacation. We can expect the same situation around the Christmas holidays, so expect to hear our call for help.

Tuesdays will not be the same upstairs at the Thrift Shop with passing of Minta Nishimura. She was a dedicated “sorter” who cheerfully did anything she was asked to do. She and her friend Sandy Tamashiro were a super team.

September 2024 Thrift Shop

Cashiers’ 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). An email for this was sent out over the weekend (Aug. 31).

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