PUHI — American Savings Bank has partnered with Helping Hands Hawai‘i for the seventh year to raise funds and collect school supplies as part of HHH’s Ready to Learn Campaign.
“ASB has been a proud partner of Helping Hands Hawai‘i’s Ready To Learn program for many years,” said Seann Hartnell, vice president and branch manager of the Hokulei Village Shopping Center branch in Puhi.
“It is extremely rewarding to help Kaua‘i keiki get the vital tools they need to be successful in the classroom, especially with all of the challenges our community has faced throughout the pandemic.”
RTL provides free educational tools to help students from low-income and houseless families excel in the classroom.
ASB is accepting school supplies and monetary donations from the community from now until July 31 at all ASB branches statewide.
“We support Helping Hands Hawai‘i’s commitment to developing community self-sufficiency and resilience by providing guidance, household goods and opportunities for empowerment and connection,” Hartnell said.
“At ASB, we help make people’s dreams possible every day, and we are glad for this opportunity to partner with an organization that shares a similar vision.”
Hartnell said ASB provides ongoing financial literacy and support for students and the community through various programs and partnerships throughout the year.
“We are happy to donate our time, financial expertise and resources to help bring real impact to our community on Kaua‘i and across the state,” Hartnell said.
School-supply donations supplement pre-ordered inventory that is purchased with donated and grant-awarded funds for students of all grade levels.
School supplies are assembled into kits containing common supplies found on state Department of Education back-to-school lists.
Each kit is valued at approximately $25, and the goal is to distribute 1,000 kits to students.
“As students return to the classroom this fall, we encourage our community to get behind them by making sure they have the school supplies they need to participate in classroom activities,” said HHH President and CEO Susan Furuta.
“After many months of distance learning, Ready To Learn can help ease the transition back to school for students by ensuring their backpacks are full of the supplies they need.”
The top school supplies needed this year are backpacks, erasers, markers in assorted colors, black or blue ballpoint pens, face masks, colored pencils, wide-ruled composition books, folder paper, No. 2 pencils 24-count crayon boxes, four-ounce glue bottles, black permanent markers, dry-erase markers, hand sanitizer, two-pocket portfolios, earbuds with microphones, yellow highlighters and USB flash drives.
“American Savings Bank is happy to support the Ready To Learn program and equip local students with the supplies and resources they need to succeed in school,” said Ann Teranishi, ASB president and chief executive officer.
“We invite the community to join us once again to improve education for local students by making a donation at any of our locations across the state.”
w Info: helpinghandshawaii.org
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Stephanie Shinno, education and business reporter, can be reached at 245-0424 or sshinno@thegardenisland.com.
