Halloween party for shelter kids needs aid
A group of University of Hawaii medical students from the John A. Burns School of Medicine are asking for donations to throw a Halloween party for the nearly 100 children at the Kakaako Next Step shelter.
Donations the group is looking for are floodlights to light the shelter parking lot and small toys to be given out as prizes.
"There's really nowhere to go trick-or-treating in that area. We wanted to provide them an alternative," said Dr. Jill Omori, who runs the Hawaii Homeless Outreach and Medical Education Project, one of the organizations coordinating the event.
The party is scheduled for Oct. 31 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Kakaako shelter.
Children will enjoy games, craft booths, balloon artists, a movie and an inflatable jumper, Omori said. The children will also receive goody bags filled with treats.
"For these kids it's so hard to live day in and day out at this shelter, so just to provide them with some fun that they normally wouldn't have and to make them feel like they're important and special, I think that's our main goal," said Omori.
Inflatables Inc. has already donated a jumper for the children, and another company has offered a discount, Omori said.
Marlene Bulacan, manager of Inflatables Inc. in Mililani, said the company donated a 13-by-13-foot Looney Tunes-themed jumper, which usually runs $125 for eight hours.
"We were more than happy to donate a bouncer for the kids," Bulacan said.
Other donations include candy from Longs Drug, face painting by Faces of Paradise, ice cream from Meadow Gold and popcorn from Sodexho.
About 30 volunteers from the medical school plan to help on Halloween night.
The Hawaii HOME Project is a student-run clinic at UH's medical school and is working with the Family Medicine Interest Group, another UH student group, to throw the party.
Anyone wishing to donate should call Omori at 692-0932.