Mary Scott-Lau arrived at Ohana Ola O Kahumana in Maili with school supplies and backpacks for needy Leeward children on Wednesday. Residents assisted in sorting and packing backpacks to give away.
New school supplies
excite needy kidsDonations take a load off
the backs of Waianae parents
Le'vi Medeiros couldn't wait to get his first new backpack so he could throw away his old one and show off his nice blue bag with honu designs to his third-grade classmates at Leihoku Elementary School as they start school this week.
To Donate
Women in Need was funded by a grant -- which expires this month -- from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Women in Need will continue the organization and seek donations.To contact Women in Need, call Mary Scott-Lau at 259-9049 or write to P.O. Box 414, Waimanalo, HI 96795.
Le'vi said he's thankful for his new backpack and happy it's not torn up inside like his old one.
"Mine!" said 8-year-old Le'vi, clutching his backpack and then examining the inside. "I got to check to make sure the backpack's not peeling."
He said he doesn't even mind that he has the same bag as his older brother, Johnathan, and other children in his neighborhood; he just has to write his name on the bag so they don't get mixed up.
About 40 kids in the Ohana Ola O Kahumana housing program in Waianae received new school supplies Wednesday, thanks to Prudential Locations, which donated 100 backpacks and $1,000, and Women in Need, a nonprofit organization that helps homeless families.
This is the third year Prudential Locations donated the items to needy children in homeless facilities Ohana Ola O Kahumana and the Weinberg Village in Waimanalo, who will receive their gifts next week.
Le'vi and Johnathan's mother, Nancy Kahananui, had to buy their backpacks last year from a garage sale in Mililani.
"It's so good because I don't have the money to buy the rest," said Kahananui, 29, who has six children and is unemployed.
Ohana Ola O Kahumana is a two-year transitional housing program for homeless families -- 22 adults and 44 children in 14 units.
Ohana Ola O Kahumana resident Nicole Kaua, right, presented Mary Scott-Lau with a thank-you note Wednesday for helping her community.
Mary Scott-Lau, executive director of Women in Need, said she wanted to give the children a happy start to the school year."It's so important because these kids are used to going without anything," Scott-Lau said. "They absolutely love it. It's a godsend to them and they are so grateful."
Most of the children in the housing go to Leihoku and Nanaikapono elementary, and Waianae Intermediate and High schools, Scott-Lau said.
Scott-Lau used the respective school supply listing for each child in the housing program, bought and separated all the items and stuffed them into their bags. The children could pick between a blue or green honu backpack.
"It's a big help for our end," said Michelle Tuiloma, a bus driver and mother of four. "We are working to get out of here, and financially it's hard. With Mary's help, it takes a big load off of us."
"It's a big relief for me," said Yvonne Saromines, who supports four children and a nephew. "Now I don't have to worry, and I don't need to take off work to buy all the stuff."
Saromines said if she bought all the supplies herself, they would have cost almost $300.
