The Zonta Club of Hilo organized a “Halloween Madness” party for more than 125 individuals at the Neighborhood Place of Puna last month.
The Zonta Club of Hilo organized a “Halloween Madness” party for more than 125 individuals at the Neighborhood Place of Puna last month.
The Halloween party was part of the Harry &Jeannette Weinberg Foundation’s Weinberg Friends Program, which gave the Zonta Club’s chosen nonprofit $10,000 upon completion of a sweat equity project. The Halloween-themed event was the Zonta Club of Hilo’s 2015 project and was the 17th year the club has taken part in the program.
Hilo Zontians kicked off the event with direct work activities including installing curtain rods and curtains to help cut glare in NPP’s multipurpose room, and creating 20 holiday readiness cleaning buckets as well as more than 200 personal hygiene kits for families in need.
Following the work session, 25 client families with four to six children were invited to make healthy snacks including a vegetable witch’s broom and Oreo cookie spider; visit the craft station and create monster magnets, decorate trick-or-treat bags or fold origami; and select an outfit from the costume closet.
Target of Hilo donated $400 worth of Halloween costumes to help fill the closet.
“It was the Zonta Club of Hilo’s absolute pleasure to support the good work Neighborhood Place of Puna does to empower area families with knowledge and resources,” said Julie Tulang, event organizer. “Hilo Zontians and volunteers found it very rewarding to be able to interact with the families in the spook-tacular spirit of Halloween.”
After the morning’s work and Halloween activities, Zonta Club of Hilo president Tonya Ozone presented a $10,000 grant award to NPP executive director Paul Norman to support the nonprofit’s Kamalama Parenting Project, a parenting curriculum to help area families raise healthy children in a safe, stable home environment.
Queens and princesses from Lehua Hawaii Productions volunteered at the party. Before the event, Lehua Hawaii in partnership with Zonta Hilo hosted a costume and personal care items drive to secure donations.
The Zonta Club of Hilo was founded in 1950 and is part of Zonta International, a global organization whose mission is to empower women through service and advocacy. To learn more about the club’s service projects, special events, advocacy efforts and scholarship opportunities, visit www.zontahilo.org.