Waikīkī steps out to support the community’s keiki

HONOLULU (KHON2) — On Thursday, July 11, something amazing happened in Waikīkī! Representative Adrian Tam, along with some wonderful community organizations, held a super fun and important event: a school supply drive for keiki (children) in the Waikīkī area.

This event was all about making sure our kids have everything they need for the upcoming school year. Let’s dive into this awesome story and see how our community came together to help our keiki succeed!

Representative Adrian Tam (D-Waikīkī Mo‘ili‘ili district 24) is all about helping his community. Being a graduate of the public school system, he is keen to ensure all keiki have what they need to succeed.

He said, “As we prepare for the upcoming school year, we ask for our community’s support in ensuring our keiki have the necessary supplies and resources to help them succeed in the classroom. Every contribution makes a difference, and we appreciate our community’s kōkua.”

Katherine Cloos-Hazard who is the reigning Mrs. Hickam Field is a dedicated community member and former public-school student. She is passionate about supporting local schools and making sure every child has the tools they need to succeed.

Ashley Howell-Wasson is Mrs. Hawaii USA and a strong advocate for education. She believes that having the right supplies can make a huge difference in a student’s education.

She said, “Having the right notebooks, pens and pencils is what is going to make a difference for my education.”

Behind the scenes were Randy Soriano and Kumu Brad Lum with the Rotary-E Club of Hawaiʻi who helped organize and volunteer on this event.

“Rotary has a commitment to creating access to education and literacy. We are excited to partner with our friends from various Clubs around the state and Representative Tam’s office to help our community schools prepare for the upcoming school year,” said Randy Soriano, President, Rotary E-Club of Hawaiʻi.

The school supply drive was a huge success with many people from the area coming out to show their support for local keiki.

Rep. Tam and his team collected tons of brand-new school supplies, like notebooks, pens, pencils and more. These supplies will go to students at Jefferson Elementary School and ʻAla Wai Elementary School.

“School supplies are very expensive right now, and that’s why we held the school supply drive,” Rep. Tam explained. “We know that many families struggle already income-wise, and buying school supplies for their kids is just another added struggle. We want the best for our kids.”

The event wasn’t just about collecting supplies; it was about bringing the community together. People from all over came to donate and volunteer.

Rep. Tam was super grateful to community for understanding and responding.

“I’m really grateful for many of the constituents for coming out and donating their own school supplies and for even going out and buying school supplies,” said Rep. Tam. “The fact that they actually went to stores to buy these school supplies is really telling about how supportive our community is.”

Cloos-Hazard shared how important this event was to her.

“For me, I came from public schools, my daughter is currently in Hawaii State public schools. It’s important for me to be able to get that response,” she said. “And as a member of the community, I would hope others would want the exact same reaction as well. It just, it makes the connection a little bit more like Aloha because all of Aloha is, we’re family. ʻOhana means family.”

Howell-Wasson was thrilled to help, too.

“Seeing that there’s so much more than just what we stand for is a great opportunity for us to come out and support our communities,” noted Howell-Wasson. “Having the community jump in and support all of their keiki, who are going to be the future of our support systems, our lawyers, our doctors, and everybody like that, having them have the right foundation is what is really important for our community to come out and support.”

The drive was a massive success. Cloos-Hazard said, “It was super successful. I think we collected enough to distribute between three or four classrooms. So, I would say it’s very successful and this is only one of the locations that we had today. There were 20 other locations, which I’m sure did just as successful.”

“The fact that everybody was able to come out and we had cars pulling up all day long from 10 to 2,” added Howell-Wasson. “And we were always so excited to come and see new cars pop up and each one donated between like 5 to 10 notebooks per car. So, it was really an amazing thing to see everybody come out.”

The Waikīkī keiki school supply drive was an incredible success and demonstrated the power of community and the aloha spirit.

With the help of Rep. Tam, Mrs. Cloos-Hazard, Mrs. Ashley Howell-Wasson and many generous donors and volunteers, our keiki are now ready for a fantastic school year.