Assistance League of Hawaii Christmas Social
Wednesday, December 14, 2022 • 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Laurelyn Berger's Residence • 94 Lumahai St., Honolulu HI
Deadline to RSVP: December 10
|
|
Transforming Lives - Strengthening Community |
|
Assistance League of Hawaii volunteers Gail Jensen and Leialoha Leung put the finishing touches on our Thrift Shop Christmas tree in prepara-tion for holiday sales, during our Christmas Work Party. |
|
December is as Busy as Ever! |
|
We are heading into December busier than ever. Our Thrift Shop has recently had some wonderful donations and record-setting sales days. Two Operation School Bell teams are scheduled to deliver Kokua Clothing Boxes (photo at right) to several schools on the Big Island and Molokai in early December. Operation Wildlife has many school visits scheduled on Oahu to present their wildlife conservation program. The many facets of We Care continue to make basic-needs deliveries to local hospitals, Domestic Violence Action Center, Youth Outreach and Hale Kipa, as well as delivering comforting Malama Bears to various agencies. Items from our Thrift Shop, passed along to various nonprofit organizations, through our Share program, are especially appreciated at this time of year. All of our philanthropic programs and our Thrift Shop welcome additional help. Please consider lending a hand during this special season of giving.
Our multi-talented Newsletter Editor and Website Administrator, Melvin Ah Ching, needs to turn over the reins of the Newsletter to someone else. Mel is setting up an easy-to-use template for the Newsletter, and he and I are happy to train the next Newsletter Editor in how to navigate the Constant Contact format. Articles and photos are submitted by other members, and this once-a-month task can be done from the comfort of your home computer. Please contact me at nsparacino_sms@yahoo.com if you are interested in learning more about this important communication job for our organization.
We have many member “snow birds” and a few new members in our midst. We welcome them all! We hope to see many of you at our annual Christmas Potluck Party on December 14 at Laurelyn Berger’s home. (Details are below.) Wishing you all the joys of this beautiful season.
Mahalo for all that you do.
|
|
Annual Christmas Social
Slated for December 14
|
|
The 2022 December Potluck Christmas Luncheon will be held on Wednesday, December 14, beginning at 10:30 a.m. at Laurelyn Berger's home. The location is at 94 Lumahai Street, Honolulu, in Hawaii Kai. Street Parking is available and carpooling is advised.
Reservation are taken by email only at althrift281@gmail.com (Guests are welcome). Deadline for Reservations is Saturday, December 10.
The potluck dish to bring is determined by your last name as follows:
A - H Dessert
I - O Salad.
P - Z Main Dish
Punch will be provided.
There will be a gift exchange (maximum $10.00), with a gift, hopefully from The Shop, for those who wish to participate. Please wrap the gift (no names on the gift).
Linda Young's daughter will play Christmas carols on the piano, and everyone is welcome to sign along.
The photo above was taken at last year's Christmas gathering.
|
|
We’re Off to a Good Start |
|
Initiating some Strategic Plans, you might have noticed some changes. Have you seen the TV monitor above the cashier’s desk? If you have not been able to stop by the newly-painted Thrift Shop, then follow us on Instagram, Facebook, etc. New members are busy participating in programs to learn in which areas they enjoy volunteering, so say “hello" to a new face wearing our Assistance League of Hawaii blue shirt or apron.
If you have a few hours, do drop by and join in volunteering. There is always something to do. Behind-the-scenes dedicated members are raising funds, sourcing grants, and following up on our active Philanthropic Programs.
|
|
Welcome to Assistance League |
|
Joe Maloney is Linda Young's husband. He is interested in our Operation Wildlife program and has actually attended two OWL sessions. As you recall Linda and Joe moved to Hawaii from the St. Louis area and reside in Kailua.
Penny Pekriel is a frequent shopper so you will most likely recognize her. She resides in Hawaii Kai.
I hope to welcome both new members at our Christmas party on December 14th.
|
|
MORE NEWS: Member Olivia Yule, invites you to see her extensive display of her collection of Nativity Scenes on the 3rd floor of Plaza Waikiki at 1812 Kalakaua Avenue. Free parking is available for visitors in the building. Masks are suggested. If you give Olivia a call at (808) 312-4757 before you visit, she will give you a tour of her collection and specifics about the origin of each Nativity Scene. You can view this beautiful collection from December 4-January 6, 10:00 a.m - 7:00 p.m.
|
|
Philanthropic Programs Holding Steady,
Gearing Up for More Involvement
|
|
Proceeds from Assistance League of Hawaii’s Thrift Shop help support our programs. Since 1989, Waikiki Health’s Youth Outreach (YO!) program has provided medical and social services to homeless youth. Beyond basic services, YO! offers encouragement and the opportunity to create positive change, which most homeless youth don’t find anywhere else. Photo by Waikik Health Youth Outreach. |
|
Our philanthropic work continues during the holidays! Here are some of the activities that are making the season brighter for our keiki and families.
OPERATION SCHOOL BELL®: Kokua Clothing Boxes (photos at top in President's column) are being delivered to schools in the next few weeks. Thanks to those members that added extra hands to help get the clothing into the right hands at our needy schools: Andrea Cyriacks, Gerri Migita, Linda Tsark, Dianne Girard, Debbie Nordstrom, Bob Bruce, Marty and Karen Kehoe, Linda McColgan, Gloria McGehee-Koel, Carol Hasegawa, Helen Taufa'asau and Ronnie Wassill. Tremendous effort!
|
|
OPERATION WILDLIFE: Since the OWL program started going to schools in mid-October, we have visited 5 schools and have shown the program to over 425 children and more than 15 teachers. Of these schools, one is brand-new to our OWL program. The teachers and kids were really impressed with the video as well as with all the biofacts (photo at left). The teachers commented about how well the video was put together, and how great it was for the children to actually see biofacts of endangered animals that they studied about in their science and social studies classes. By Christmas, we will have visited 10 schools, including 3 new Title I schools.
We are happy to have some new volunteers who are enjoying the program immensely! It's great to have more volunteers sharing in the joy of bringing this exciting program to children in Hawaii. We welcome members who want to observe at any of the schools we visit. Just contact Hazel Sumile, and she will let you know where OWL Program is headed off to next.
|
|
SHARE: The Share partner, Kokua Kalihi Valley Family Assistance Program recently received a donation of sewing materials from one of our members. The facility has a large population of Micronesian families who sew most of their own clothing for their children and families. Upon receiving our donation, they asked if we had any idea where to find a mannequin or two for them to use. Our motto is: "Ask and you shall receive". One brand new mannequin was donated to Assistance League of Hawaii (good save thanks to Margie's watchful eye), and Marty and Karen managed to locate a second full torso mannequin (photo above). The women who sew the clothes were amazed and extremely thankful! It was a fun and very rewarding delivery.
|
|
WE CARE: Member Volunteer Reiko Stiver purchased and delivered 850 Disney pins to add to Shriners' treasure chest for children at a cost of approximately $200.
Pat Dixon decided to restart the Hale Kipa Gift Certificate program. To simplify the process for cashiers, the Youth Outreach gift certificate was revised to add Hale Kipa. Both programs will allow up to $25 in Thrift Shop merchandise when redeemed. The folders for recording the redeemed gift certificates were also combined and can be found in the cabinet behind the cash registers.
What a perfect time of year for all these amazing programs - providing so many useful and relevant services to our communities!!!
|
|
Holiday Sales Bump Up Income |
|
The new emergency exit fencing and gate were installed on the Kaheka Street side of the Thrift Shop. |
|
November started with our Christmas Work Party weekend. Thanks to the team from Farrington High School and all the member volunteers who were able to help with the sorting and pricing of the 70 bins and boxes that had accumulated during the year. Christmas sales were brisk.
But it did not stop there. Thanks to Mary Monohon, we received two carloads of great decorations from the Christmas Store in Kailua that recently closed. These items will gradually replace our original stock and add to our revenue.
The monthly sales for November (Imagine trumpets sounding.) were over $36,000! This was one of our highest months on record. Give yourselves a pat on the back.
Finally a milestone has been reached….we have the Kaheka Street emergency door area (which had been taken over by the homeless on many occasions) fenced in with a sliding exit gate. Thanks to the Property Management Committee and especially Jim McClelland and Mary Monohon, who were responsible for doing the research, getting the quotes, removing the large pots and overseeing the installation. The work was done in one day on Nov. 21, and Jim was kind enough to stay on site from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Kaheka Street Emergency Door Procedure: The emergency fence gate must remain unlocked when people are in the shop. The first person to enter the shop in the morning must unlock the gate, and the last person to leave in the afternoon must re-lock the gate. Once you actually practice this procedure with someone, you will see that it is not difficult.
|
|
December 2022 Thrift Shop Calendar |
|
Thrift Shop Days & Hours:
Tuesday & Thursdays 9:30 am to 1:00 pm
Saturdays 9:30 am to 3:00 pm
|
|
Ho! Ho! Ho! Make Santa Jolly |
|
The Holidays have provided nearly all of our member volunteers with many work hours to account for. Whether you work on one of our many programs, in the Thrift Shop or other at-home tasks, it is important to count your hours this month. Please send me a log of your hours, including meetings and transportation. All volunteer hours will be included in the grand total for Assistance League of Hawaii. Santa will be jolly and so will I.
|
|
Amazon.com donates 0.5% of qualifying AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. Why not choose Assistance League of Hawaii? Here’s how it works:
2) Sign in with your Amazon.com credentials (Amazon Prime can be used too.)
3) Select Assistance League of Hawaii as the charitable organization.
4) Start shopping!
5) You can add a bookmark for smile.amazon.com to make it easier to return again to shop at AmazonSmile.
Once you have Assistance League of Hawaii registered with your Amazon Smile account, every time you shop at Amazon that .5% of your purchases help us!
|
|
Newsletter Editor: Melvin Ah Ching assistanceleaguehimarketing@gmail.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
