Editor’s note: The 2017 Hawaii Tribune-Herald Wish List features gift ideas for area organizations and their clients who might not otherwise receive gifts. During this time of giving, we invite you to consider fulfilling wishes from the list accompanying this article. To offer a gift, contact featured organizations or your own favorite nonprofit.
Even small gifts can have a big impact.
Emily Bartlett-Henry, who assists clients of Aloha Independent Living Hawaii, said she worked with a cognitively disabled man for many years.
“He would just sit at home and sort cards because he didn’t have anywhere to go or anything to do,” she said.
When the nonprofit started helping him go to parks to shoot hoops, “He couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn at first,” she said. “Now, he can hit up to seven baskets in a row.”
And he lost 30 pounds just from the extra activity.
It’s those kinds of remarkable effects that can go unnoticed by the public when caregivers and service providers from nonprofits and agencies work with clients islandwide.
Community nonprofits rarely have money to replace treasured items needed by those clients, or even simple supplies like paper products.
When community members offer such gifts to the clients of nonprofits, it can make a huge difference, Bartlett-Henry said. The Tribune-Herald reached out to nonprofits in the region and collected gift suggestions from them.
Lisa Rantz, executive director of the Hilo Medical Center Foundation, said it’s important for community members to help nonprofits fulfill needs of clients because it creates a bigger impact when people collaborate.
Such organizations often need cleaning supplies, toiletries and donations above and beyond money received yearlong through fundraisers and grants.
Their needs also extend to human presence.
“Broadly speaking,” Rantz said, “volunteers, I think, are something that gets missed.”
Volunteering is a way for people to donate time if they can’t donate gifts or money. It lets people get directly involved and make a personal difference, Rantz said.
Lisa Maruyama, president and CEO of the Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, said volunteerism can come in many forms, such as serving on a board, especially those who have a specific expertise such as construction, web design, accounting, law, internet technology, communication or fundraising.
“You’re really contributing to moving your community forward,” Maruyama said.
“This is our community and we need to work together,” Rantz said. “Because working together in silos or individually you don’t get that collective impact.”
Aloha Independent Living can be reached at 339-7297.
HANO connects nonprofits with people interested in becoming board members. Call 529-0453.
Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
2017 Hawaii Tribune-Herald Wish List
Aloha Independent Living Hawaii
1055 Kinoole St., Unit 202; samn@alohailhawaii.org; 339-7297
Gifts requested:
• Gift cards for men and women ages 50-90
Big Island Substance Abuse Council
16-179 Melekahiwa St., Keaau; info@bisac.com; 969-9994
Gifts requested:
• Gift cards for 14 men and eight women
• Activity books, 2-year-old girl
• Big Legos or puzzles, 4-year-old boy
• Jumper (hangs on door), 7-month-old girl
• Dinosaur action figures, 4-year-old boy
• Toy cellphone, 10-month-old girl
• Toy truck, 1-year-old boy
• Remote-control car, 6-year-old boy
• Superman action figure and PAW-Patrol jacket, 4-year-old girl
• Light-up fire truck, 3-year-old boy
• Clothes, 5-month-old boy
• Football, 10-year-old boy
• Xbox game (action), 9-year-old boy
• Easy-Bake Oven supplies, 5-year-old girl
Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island
100 Kamakahonu St., Hilo; info@bgcbi.org; 961-5536
Gifts requested:
• Art supplies and Legos for boys and girls ages 6-17
• Paper towels
• Toilet paper
• Hand soap
• Hand sanitizer
• Clorox wipes
• Cleaning supplies
Child and Family Service
1045-A Kilauea Ave., Hilo; tsantos@cfs-hawaii.org; 935-2188
Gifts requested:
• L.O.L. Big Surprise! dolls, pets and Fizz Factory, Hatchimals for 7-year-old girl
• Hip-hop dance lessons, someone to help create dance routines, videographer to help make videos, large speaker with colored lights, music device for dance routines, shoes size 10.5 mens, shorts size 14 youth, shirts size XL youth, Art 101 set, skateboard, RC car, Fidget speaker, Bicycle Sprocket Chain Fidget for 12-year-old boy in foster care.
Child and Family Service Women’s Domestic Violence Advocacy Program
1045A Kilauea Ave., Hilo; gdias@cfs-hawaii.org; 935-2188, ext. 2166 (Gordlynn)
Gifts requested:
• Diapers (especially size 3-5) and wipes
• Coffee maker, curtains, curtain rods and towels for mother of three
• Toddler bed and bedding, 2 1/2-year-old girl
• Wireless Bluetooth speaker, 15-year-old girl
• Kitchen play station, doll and stroller, 3-year-old girl
• Doll and stroller, 2-year-old girl
• Gift basket with bath products, bedding, kitchen/cooking/baking items for mother of two
• Gift basket with bath products, bedding, kitchen/cooking/baking items for mother of four
• Bedding, kitchen/cooking/baking items, dishes, cups, utensils for mother of two
• Gift basket with bath/feminine products, kitchen and bath towels for mother of five
• Gift basket with bath/feminine products for mother of four
• Doll and stroller, 2-year-old girl
• Bedding, kitchen/cooking/baking items, dishes, cups, containers, utensils for mother of two
• Wireless Bluetooth speaker, 14-year-old boy
• Bath and kitchen towels for mother of four
• Cleaning supplies and bath towels for mother of five
Child and Family Service Strong Families Home Visiting
1045-A Kilauea Ave., Hilo;jmolina@CFS-Hawaii.org; 265-6932
Gifts requested (can be secondhand, for this individual):
• Dressers to put clothing in for two girls, ages 1 and 4 months; area rugs; toilet paper; toaster; television; laundry detergent; household cleaning supplies for a mother restarting family’s life.
HOPE Services Hawaii Inc.
115 Kapiolani St., Hilo; jcabal@hopeserviceshawaii.org; 217-2830
Gifts requested:
• Hygiene kits, toiletries, first aid kits
Hospice of Hilo
1011 Waianuenue Ave., Hilo; cathyh@hospiceofhilo.org; 969-1733
Gifts requested:
• Journals, gel pens, markers, stamps for adolescent and adult clients of both genders
The Salvation Army Hilo Temple Corps
219 Ponahawai St., Hilo (for dropping off gifts); to mail gifts, address is PO Box 967, Hilo, HI 96721; celestine.ruwethin@usw.salvationarmy.org; 935-1277.
Gifts requested:
• Toys for Christmas programs
• Picnic tables
• Cyclone fencing surrounding keiki play area
• Fencing around property
• Tent (poles and tarp)
• Paint for roof and other projects
• Floodlights for parking lot
• Kitchen utensils
• Nonperishable food donations
• Cleaning supplies (mops, brooms, etc.)
