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President
Ronnie Wassill
My, how we have grown!! At the Regular meeting in April, we learned from Finance Chairman,
Margie Van Swearingen, that the proposed budget for next year for our signature program,
Operation School Bell® will be of $100,900. That's over $100,000 going back to the keiki of Hawaii for school clothing. How do we do this? How did we get this big? As you know, we raise most of these funds at our Thrift Shop and we can thank YOU, our hard-working members for every dollar of this remarkable achievement. Sales in March were over $25,000 and it only happened because of your dedication and strong efforts. Mahalo!
It's great news that several members are planning to attend the National Conference in San Francisco from September 17 to 21. We are expecting the best showing ever of Assistance League of Hawaii members at a National conference. That's a lot synergy!
Last September was our first participation at the Seniors' Fair, and while members thought it was a worthy activity, a decision has been made to forgo attending this September. The primary reason is a scheduling conflict with National Conference, and too many members will be away. We will need to focus our available member resources on keeping our Thrift Shop operating during that time frame. We will re-evaluate having a booth at the Seniors' Fair in 2018, and perhaps attend on alternate years with the National Conference.
Join us for the final meeting of the year, on May 10 at the Outrigger Canoe Club for Installation of the new elected Board members and appointed Committee Chairmen. Come and show your support for leaders who are completing their terms, and welcome those taking on new leadership positions at ALH. We are so grateful for your talents, your time, and for leading us into the future.
Thanks for all you do,
Ronnie
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Please send your service hours to Karen McClelland. There are only two months left in our fiscal year and it is important that ALH receive credit for all the hard work that you do.
Karen's email is: karenmccle@gmail.com.
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Vice President
Nancy Sparacino
Diann King
showed Star quality when she recently reorganized all of the upstairs Thrift Shop storage areas, including the marking area, Operation School Bell Room, kitchen and bathroom cupboards. She labeled EVERYTHING, maximizing the efficiency of our upstairs operation. Diann also masterminded the display window, facing Kaheka Street, which features our philanthropic programs. Thanks for your vision, time and talents, Diann.
Gerri Migita
has shined brightly for the last two years as our Operation School Bell Chairman, increasing significantly the number of schools served and students who received new school clothing. Gerri has also been active in Operation Wildlife and works regularly as a cashier at the Thrift Shop. She will be wearing another hat for the coming year as Vice President /Membership Chair. Thanks you, Gerri, for your commitment to Assistance League of Hawaii.
Charlee Martin, one of our newest members, shown below receiving her Chapter Manual and Thrift Shop key from Nancy at the April meeting.
Service/Companion Animals:
Service/companion animals are not allowed behind the cash register at the Thrift Shop, but members may have them present while working upstairs or at other Chapter activities.
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Hospitality
Miho Teipel
ALH May Regular Meeting
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Outrigger Canoe Club
New Time!!! 11:00 a.m
RSVP to Miho Teipel: alohabutterfly@hawaii.rr.com or 342-9151
Cost:
$25.00 (If you have responded but can't make it, please call Miho to cancel by Friday, May 5th. Otherwise you will need to pay for the meal that you aren't eating.)
Choices:
Mahalo to
Ronnie Wassill for hosting our last meeting at Mid Pacific Country Club, and to
Geri Johnson, Andrea Cyriacks, and
Debi Bukala for assisting. A big mahalo as well to
Cathy Young for an inspiring presentation about "Making a Difference."
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Strategic
Planning
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Helen Taufa'asau
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The Evaluation Summary Report 2017 is posted for your reading on the bulletin board outside the Ohana Room. The general outcomes and themes regarding new membership and retaining members were shared at the Regular Meeting on 4/12/17 (see below). Your ideas will help us with planning for this coming year! Mahalo!
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Finance
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Margie Van Swearingen
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The Proposed 2017-2018 Budget was presented to members at the April 12 meeting.
Copies were available at the meeting and a copy is posted at the Thrift Shop for review.
Members, please be prepared to vote on the Budget at the May 10 Meeting.
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May 15th is the deadline for paying your ALH dues for the 2017-18 year. We accept checks or cash. Voting members pay $60 and non-voting members pay $70. Please make your check out to "ALH" or "Assistance League of Hawaii." You may mail your payment to:
Assistance League of Hawaii
1505 Young Street/Honolulu, HI
96826.
You may also turn in your dues at the next Regular Meeting on May 10th at the Outrigger Canoe Club. Mahalo for paying in a timely manner!
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Philanthropic
Programs
Dot Mason
Our Philanthropic Program chairmen will be reporting separately, but I want to give a shout out to each of them for a job well done. Their commitment and passion have resulted in a better life for our keiki and our families in need. Gerri Migita has pushed Operation School Bell further than ever before, and has also conducted a survey to measure the outcomes of new school clothing on students' school performance. Nancy Sparacino and Margie Van Swearingen have been a big help to her by heading the in-store events at Walmart. Mary Kay Junk works tirelessly to make We Care's many projects work. She has help from Melanie Wogan, who handles our bears and Youth Outreach. Lavonne Holmburg coordinates the Tutu Tutors, and keeps the library at Pu'uhale School alive. Sandy Wells quietly assures that those useful items donated to our thrift store that we cannot sell go to others who might need them through the Share program. The enthusiastic volunteers of Operation Wildlife, under Betty Parinas, have carried its important message about animal and planet preservation to schools throughout the island chain.
Programs are what we do. Every member in our all-volunteer organization is dedicated to improving lives in our island community. Mahalo to all for really making a difference in the lives of those in need of our special form of kokua with aloha.
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Operation
School Bell
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Gerri Migita
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The End of the School Year is just around the corner and so Operation School Bell is winding down. The school year ends on May 26th for the students and ALH has helped clothe over 7,700 students in many ways. There were 45 schools selected and we were able to serve 44.
We had seven Saturday In-Store Shopping Events which were well-coordinated by Nancy Sparacino and Margie Van Swearingen. These events served 21 schools, an increase from 14 in the last year. As a result, 940 students received $60 in clothing or $20 Payless Shoe Cards. There were 24 schools that did not participate in the In-Store events. One school received direct delivery of student clothing. There were a total of 6,234 tee shirts given out to the 23 remaining schools. There were miscellaneous slippers, underwear, etc. that were also distributed to needy schools.
ALH has received a letter from DOE Superintendent Kathryn S. Matayoshi stating:
"Your generosity will go a long way in making a positive impact on these students. As you shared, their new clothes are just the start to encouraging them to attend school regularly, which we believe will lead to greater academic achievement."
Thanks to all the cheerful, eager volunteers that faithfully volunteered to man the In-Store Events; they were such a huge success! Please take the summer off (lol) and be ready to sign up again in the fall. The dates to reserve are: August 26th, September 9th, September 30th, October 21st, November 18th, December 9th, and January 27th, 2018.
It has been a pleasure to work with so many of you as the Operation School Bell Chair.
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Walmart Kapolei In-Store Shopping Event with
Nancy Sparacino and Gerri Migita |
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We Care
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Mary Kay Junk
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We Care had a very productive year. We gifted and aided almost 4,000 people.
Our biggest increase was in our Lullaby project. We jumped from around 800 last year to a little over 1,350 layettes. The Malama Bear project, which is headed by Melanie Wogan, went from 1,500 to 1,600.
We continued with our Youth Outreach project, headed by Melanie Wogan, Next Step Kokua (which gives personal items) headed by Ellen Dihel and Laurelyn Berger, Shriners Hospital, and our newest project, Imua Kakou, headed by Pat Dixon, that provides some household goods to foster children who are transitioning to independent living.
All this would not have been possible without the help of these amazing ladies. I would like to thank Melanie Wogan, who is my hard working Vice Chair, Pat Dixon, Lee Bassett, Diana Poteet, Ellen Dihel, Pat Sanborn, Vicki Faye, Barbara Baker, Dot Mason, Laurelyn Berger, Peggy Monell, LaVonne Holmberg and Jane Winslow.
With their help, We Care had a very successful year. Mahalo to you all!
Aloha and have a fun summer,
Mary Kay
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| Pat Dixon at a Lullaby Packing event at Mary Kay's home, surrounded by layette items destined for Kaiser, Castle and Kapiolani Hospitals. |
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Operation
Wildlife
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Betty Parinas
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The OWL ladies will make a presentation at Ma'ema'e Elementary School on Oahu Wednesday, April 26. May schools scheduled are Sunset Elementary on May 15, Ka'ahumanu Elementary on May 19, Kapunahala Elementary in Kaneohe on May 22,and (last but not least) Pu'uhale Elementary on May 25. If you would like to go along, please call Betty at 487-8061.
Our last Neighbor Island trip is to Hana, Maui on May16-17. After that trip, we will have seen over 6,000 children and all will know that EXTINCTION IS FOREVER!!
Joy Corbett answering questions for two young boys at Park Headquarters at the Honolulu Zoo in April.
It's been a busy year for Operation Wildlife and a VERY SUCCESSFUL one, thanks to the mutual support and hard work of all team members.
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Fundraising
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Mary Monohon
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Support the Waikiki Charity Walk
The Assistance League has been fortunate to receive funds from this Hawaii Visitor Industry-sponsored annual walk over the years. Last year, Assistance League was given over $2,000. This 5.2-mile walk on Oahu is Saturday, May 20th starting at
7 a.m. at Ala Moana Beach Park with a turn around at the end of Kalakaua at Kapahulu Ave. Many hotels provide beverages and food along the route and fun is had by all!
If you or your family or neighbors are so inclined, please encourage them to register for this worthy walk online, at http://www.charitywalkhawaii.org/oahu.html. Otherwise, if you would like to donate to the walk, all monies are distributed to non-profit organizations, such as Assistance League, on Oahu. Entry fees are $41 per walker, but any amount would be accepted. You can make your checks payable to Charity Walk and they can be dropped off or mailed to the Thrift Shop.
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Chapter
Correspondent
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Andrea Cyraicks
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Thank you letters for monetary donations were sent to:
Diann King - in memory of
Debbie Muirhead'
s mother and for her donation to the Mortgage Reduction Fund.
Teri Fritz - in memory of Debbie Muirhead'
s
mother
.
Brandon and Dr. Lauren Kimura - in memory of
Sandi Portnoy
Thank you cards for non-monetary donations were sent to Tony Price, and Jack & Karen Gould.
Just to let you know
Marti Frensley will be having her hip operation on May 10th. She will be at Kaiser Moanalua Hospital.
Barbara Bachmann is still at Hale Nani and I'm sure she would love to hear from you. She can be reached on her cell phone.
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Several of our ALH members have previously been honored with the President's Volunteer Service Award for completing over 5,000 lifetime hours of service.
There are no other formal awards for additional volunteer hours. So we created our own
Certificate of Appreciation to honor
Margie Van Swearingen for 10,000+ hours and
Marti Frensley for 12,000+ hours of service to Assistance League of Hawaii and the people of Hawaii. Congratulations and thank you!
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| Ronnie Wassill presenting Margie Van Swearingen with the Certificate of Appreciation |
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| Marti Frensley at the Aiea March Small Group Meeting |
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Thrift Shop Calendar for May, 2017
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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M. Teipel
J. Corbett
L. Berger 9-11:30
M. Murphy 9-12:00
M. Torreano 12-3:30
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closed
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D. Poteet
T. Kiladis 9-12:00
M. Teipel 9:30-12:00
HELP!
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D. Poteet
HELP!
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G. Migita
K. McClelland
P. Monell
E. Dihel 9-12:00
K. Kehoe 12-3:30
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9
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10
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11
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12
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13
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M. Teipel
J. Corbett
M. Murphy 9-12:00
M. Torreano 12-3:30
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Reg. Mtg.
@
Outrigger Canoe Club
11:00
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D. Poteet
H. Taufa'asau 10-2:00
M. Teipel 9:30-12:00
HELP!
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D. Poteet
K. Takemoto
HELP!
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K. McClelland
P. Monell
E. Dihel 9-12:00
K. Kehoe 12-3:30
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16
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17
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18
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19
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20
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M. Teipel
J. Corbett
M. Murphy 9-12:00
M. Torreano 12-3:30
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closed
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D. Poteet
T. Kiladis 9-12:00
M. Teipel 9:30-12:00
HELP!
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D. Poteet
K. Takemoto
L. Berger 9-11:30
P.M. HELP!
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G. Migita
P. Monell
E. Dihel 9-12:00
K. Kehoe 12-3:30
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23
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24
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25
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26
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27
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M. Teipel
J, Corbett
L. Berger 9-11:30
M. Murphy 9-12:00
M. Torreano 12-3:30
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closed
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D. Poteet
H. Taufa'asau 10-2:00
HELP!
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D. Poteet
K. Takemoto
HELP!
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K. McClelland
P. Monell
E. Dihel 9-12:00
K. Kehoe 12-3:30
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30
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31
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M. Teipel
J. Corbett
L. Berger 9-11:30
M. Torreano 12-3:30
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closed
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