PUHI — The KCC Japanese Club was one of more than 50 vendors who turned out early Saturday to participate in the Grove Farm Swap Meet at Puhi Park. Proceeds from sale items offered by the club went directly toward
PUHI — The KCC Japanese Club was one of more than 50 vendors who turned out early Saturday to participate in the Grove Farm Swap Meet at Puhi Park.
Proceeds from sale items offered by the club went directly toward helping the victims of the Japan disaster, said a club member.
“It appears that this swap meet attracted a lot of nonprofits as there are a lot of groups participating as a way to raise funds,” said Marissa Sanblom, Grove Farm vice president, who was helping at the Easter Seals tent.
Among those groups, Boy Scout Troop 133 was offering bargains — including “free to good home” items — to help defray costs of an upcoming trip to Maui. And Larraine Moriguchi had her Sign Art team manning woks while offering Durante laulau, lumpia and other goodies as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life.
The Kaua‘i FIRST Robotics team, although not a finalist at the 2011 state competition, was still working to help complete this year’s expenses.
The St. Rafael Youth Ministry got an early start to help send between 13 and 15 young members to the Youth Congress Day March 22, 2012.
“Although we have fewer vendors, that’s to be expected since the last one was during the holidays,” Sanblom said. “But we weren’t hurting for shoppers. And they came early.”
Bongo Lee, one of the vendors, said her items were gone by lunch, leaving only her mother’s pots.
The Easter Seals tent also was down to just a handful of items, and next door, the Troop 133 volunteers actively sought homes for their “free” goods.
Another vendor said it was a good thing some relatives stopped by because she barely had a chance to set up before the customers starting to arrive.
“The Grove Farm Company is always happy to host these swap meets for the people,” Sanblom said. “It allows people to shop, find new homes for things they no longer need, and everyone seems to have fun.”
She said she will have notices out about the next swap meet once details are worked out.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
