LIHU‘E — People Attentive To Children, or more familiarly known as PATCH Kaua‘i, is in need for cleaning products to keep the licensed Family Child Care homes and preschools open, said Mary Lu Kelley, the PATCH Kaua‘i coordinator.
The products and supplies being requested include bleach, alcohol, Clorox wipes, Baby wipes, Lysol spray, hand sanitizer, toilet paper, paper towels, gloves, and masks.
“We have two of the 28 preschools staying open and caring for children of essential workers,” Kelley said. “We have a total of 29 Family Child Care homes on the island, and we currently have 14 homes staying open. That means we have 16 providers open and each provider is take care of four children of essential workers in compliance with the Mayor’s Emergency Rule No. 5. These providers are the ones who need cleaning supplies in order to stay open.”
Kelley said recently PATCH Kaua‘i received a dozen fabric masks made by Massive Masks for Kaua‘i and distributed by Morgan Lopez, the Kaua‘i executive director for the Hawai‘i Lodging and Tourism Association, Kaua‘i Chapter.
“Morgan is trying to get us more masks for the licensed providers, but I don’t know how long it will take to get more,” Kelley said. “Her organization has not been able to get cleaning supplies for us, yet. Also, in all of the stores I looked into, the shelves are bare for these needed cleaning products.”
One of the ways to get supplies to the providers is for people to order them online since Kaua‘i does not seem to have them.
“Or, another idea,” Kelley said. “If Kaua‘i residents have stocked up on any of these products, they could share their surplus in order for the providers to continue care for the 64 families.”
People who want to donate cleaning products can call 246-0622 to make an appointment to drop off the supplies on Tuesday or Wednesday between 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The PATCH Kaua‘i office is located at 4485 Pahe‘e Street, Suite 124, located in the Wo Building across the street from Urgent Care and between Gather Federal Credit Union and Dynasty Court.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
