Aloha spirit a big
help to Head Start

The community rallies after
school kids' play equipment is stolen

---

By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

Brand new modular playground equipment to replace the two sets stolen from Barbers Point Elementary School over the weekend costs $510, according to one catalog.

A playhouse, sandbox and merry-go-round to replace those donated by a military family last year could cost at least $350.

But when people learned about the theft of the equipment used by 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds of the Head Start program, they pledged or donated new equipment, its installation and more than $12,550 cash.

"There's bad out there, but there's more good out there than bad. It's just so overwhelming," said Head Start teacher Staphanie Paz.

The equipment was stolen over the weekend, but the theft was not reported until Monday when program officials reported for work.

Paz said she was on the telephone almost the entire morning yesterday accepting pledges. In one break she, the program's other teacher and teacher's aide stood in the middle of the classroom and hugged each other. She said she had to take the telephone off the hook to join the children for lunch.

After lunch, deejays from radio station Star 101.9 presented Paz a check for $1,450.

Paz said a Honolulu businessman pledged $5,000; radio station KRTR-FM, $2,300; Campbell Estate, $1,300; Pflueger car dealerships, $1,000; and Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park pledged $10 from every regular entrance fee paid yesterday up to $1,500.

In addition, Paz said Sears pledged to donate the playground equipment, Marines at Kaneohe offered to assemble it, and Subway Sandwiches at Barbers Point promised to feed workers who install the equipment.

"It's very humbling to know that people will do this for our children. It's good to know that people are rising to the occasion and doing this," Paz said.

Honolulu Community Action Program, which runs Oahu Head Start, has not decided what to do with the donations. But it could spend all of them to install the playground equipment.

"You can spend up to $15,000 on resilient tile," said Toni Farm, assistant director.

Resilient tile is the rubbery material used in fall zones under playground equipment to make them safer.

The old equipment was portable and did not have resilient tile under it. Farm said the installation of new equipment, permanent or portable, would require a safe fall zone.