Going back to school in the Fall is an exciting time for many school children across Hawaii, however, for some local children, single parents scramble to be able to afford new clothes and school supplies to send kids confidently into the next grade up.
LUVA Real Estate agent, Jonika MacDonald helped spearhead a fundraiser to purchase new outfits for school children along with the local chapter of the Young Professionals Networking Group (YPN) of the West Hawaii Association of Realtors for a “Back-to-School Bash and Clothing Drive” in late July. The Realtors joined forces with a variety of local business people to purchase and distribute clothing and supplies to hundreds of students from Kindergarten to 7th grade in West Hawaii.
“We reached out to our community and friends and encouraged them to assist us,” MacDonald shared. “We let them know, If you can’t shop, we have shoppers for you. So, people were providing clothing to the drive AND people gave their closest members of YPN funds to shop for children’s clothing for them.” This was our first year joining local business owners to get together and provide a necessity for our community,” said Macdonald. “These foster homes and single parents are struggling at this time of year to find that extra to give to their kids and make sure that they are ready and prepared for the new school year. It is touching and inspiring.”
The group was able to give 200 full outfits to the local keiki. Ms. MacDonald believes the entire event served approx 400-500 students. “We ran out of the outfits in the first hour, so we packed up and got out of the way for the rest of the event and allowed our fellow business people to help serve the families in Kona.” Young Professionals Network of West Hawaii Association of REALTORS has 12 standing members including Jonika and LUVA Realtor, Jackie Orsa.
Beautification Project at Konawaena Elementary School For Realtor Action Day
LUVA Realtors will be coming together to join other members of the local Realtor Association to help beautify the Konawaena Elementary School campus. The project will be held on Saturday, September 14th from 8 am-12 pm. Volunteers are encouraged to sign up and lend a few hours to plant new landscaping to help students stay on the concrete paths and mitigate the mud and dirt being tracked into the classrooms and common spaces. For more information https://www.eventbrite.com/e/realtor-action-day-konawaena-elementary-tickets-66492443689
LUVA Real Estate is an active member of our community in lending a hand to share our Aloha.